Near the port of Budva there is a memorial for Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša. It shows the upper part of his body with a book in his right hand. The bust is resting on a stone pedestal, that shows his name in cyrillic letters and the years of his birth and death.
"Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša (Serbian Cyrillic: Стјепан Митров Љубиша; 29 February 1824 – 11 November 1878), was a Serbian and Montenegrin writer and politician. He is famous for his unique short stories, generally ranked among the masterpieces of Serbian literature in its day. These stories are also a symbol of the Serbian rebirth, both for its patriotic message and because it was a fundamental milestone in the Serbian language reform.
Biography
Although born in the town of Budva, Austrian Empire, Ljubiša traced his ancestry to the hinterland and the Paštrovici clan, a fact he was always proud to stress. One of his cousins was Visarion Ljubiša (1823–84), who later became the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1882 to 1884. His father Mitar (therefore the patronymic Mitrov) was a seaman whom he rarely saw and died when Stjepan was only 14 years old. His education, mostly in the Italian language, went irregularly since he had to work to help support his family from an early age. Therefore, Ljubiša became an autodidact, educating himself from the books he could find. But the love for national literature revealed itself through the writings of Vuk Karadžic, and his association with Vuk Vrcevic, Karadžic's faithful collaborator.
When only 19, he was elected to the post of the secretary of the town of Budva. This job forced him into learning more on current laws and was soon considered by the plain folks to be a lawyer and was often approached as such. He started writing court records and even operated as a defender in the local court of law. This self-thought knowledge of his was then acknowledged by the authorities and without taking a judiciary exam he became a public notary.
Literary critic and historian Jovan Skerlic points out in his book that Ljubiša wrote: Izmecu Bara i Zadra bilo u izobraženoj vrsti samo sedam ljudi, koji nijesu bili izgubili svijest svog imena i porekla. 'Between Bar and Zadar there were approximately only seven people, who had not lost track of their ancestral name and descent,' demonstrating the extent of Italian influence on the Dalmatian and Montenegrin littoral.
His literary work started in 1845 when, led by the ethnographical example of Vuk Karadžic's collaborator, Vuk Vrcevic, who eventually became Ljubiša's friend. Ljubiša then went on to publish in 'Serbian-Dalmatian Magazine' (Сербско-далматиснки магазин, Serbsko-dalmatinski magazin) notes on life and customs of his Paštrovici clan. In 1868, he also published the first edition of Njegoš’s 'Mountain Wreath' in Serbian Latin script. His first short story, Scepan the Little (Шћепан Мали, Šcepan Mali), was published only in 1868. He sailed in literary waters more actively from 1870, continuing with short stories. All of them appeared in magazines and newspapers his only book being the 1875 'Montenegrin and Littoral Stories' (Приповијести црногорске и приморске, Pripovijesti crnogorske i primorske). In 1877, he started with publishing one hundred short stories named 'The Storytelling of Vuk Dojcevic' of which only 37 appeared, owing to his premature death. In 1878 in 'Serb Dawn' (Српска зора, Srpska zora) magazine in Vienna he published his autobiography.
Skerlic compared Ljubiša with his contemporaries, stating that 'What Joksim Novic-Otocanin and Jovan Sundecic did for poetry, Ljubiša did for prose writing.'
Visiting Cetinje to attend the consecration of his cousin Visarion Ljubiša, who was being elevated to a Metropolitan bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Ljubiša fell ill and on his return to Vienna died on 11 November 1878. His earthly remains were transferred to Budva in 1885.
Literary work
Coming from the rural background and treasuring all his life contacts with the peasants, Ljubiša wrote in excellent Serbian, which was his strongest source of inspiration. His stories are full with folklore elements, sayings, vivid characters that all showed the character of Serbian people in the Littoral. Comparing his inspiration, national orientation and closed relation with folklore he was dubbed 'Njegoš in prose'. Although he spent his life in the time of romanticism, his works have an intention of closer and more genuine representation of folk life and therefore Ljubiša is considered one of the first realists in Serb literature. His works remain popular to this very date.
He is also recognized as an excellent translator of the works of Horace, Dante, and Ariosto."
Source and further informatio: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stjepan_Mitrov_Ljubiša