Branko Mikasinovich

Branko Mikasinovich
Drawing by Zoran Tucic
Born November 6, 1938
Belišće, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Occupation Slavist
Language Serbian, English
Nationality Serbian

Branko Mikasinovich (born November 6, 1938 in Belišće) is a scholar of Yugoslav and Serbian literature as well as a noted Slavist. He has edited Introduction to Yugoslav Literature (Twayne, 1973), a representative anthology of modern Yugoslav prose and poetry in English, Five Modern Yugoslav Plays (Cyrco Press, 1977), a unique collection of plays written between 1945 and 1980, Modern Yugoslav Satire (Cross-Cultural Communications, 1979), which was selected for "Best Titles of 1979" by Library Journal and included in the Puschart Prize V: The Best of the Small Presses, Yugoslav Fantastic Prose (Proex, 1991), the first anthology of Yugoslav supernatural tales in English, and Yugoslavia: Crisis and Disintegration (Plyroma Publishing Co., 1994).

Education and career

Mikasinovich received his B.A. from Roosevelt University in Chicago in 1965, his M.A. from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois in 1967, and a Ph.D from the University of Belgrade in 1984. He has taught the Russian language and Slavic literature at Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, and was president of the Louisiana Association of Professors of Slavic and Eastern European languages. He has appeared as a panelist on Yugoslav press on ABC's "Press International" in Chicago and PBS's "International Dateline" in New Orleans. He also appears on "Voice of America" and a Serbian Service television program, "Open Studio".

Influences

Baron Mihailo Mikasinović, who was instrumental in opening Serbian schools in Krajina in the 18th century, Stefan Mikasinović, a teacher of Dositej Obradović, a prime mover of the Serbian cultural rebirth in the period of Enlightenment, and his father Sava Mikasinovich inspired, to a large extent, the author's scholarly activities.

References