Tešan Podrugović

Tešan Podrugović (Serbian: Тешан Подруговић) (Kazanci, Gacko, Herzegovina, Ottoman Empire 1775 — Sremski Karlovci, Austrian Empire 1815)^[1] was Serbian hayduk, storyteller and gusle player (Serbian: guslar) who participated in the First Serbian Uprising and Second Serbian Uprising.^[2] He was one of the most important sources for Serbian epic poetry recorded by Vuk Karadžić. Podrugović did not sing but used to 'speak' his poems; he understood and felt the poems and thought about what he said.

Biography

Podrugović's family was from the village of Kazanci in the municipality of Gacko.^[3] Tešan Podrugović was about forty years old when he first began collaborating with Vuk Karadžić. As a youth in Bosnia, Podrugović killed a Muslim who had raped a girl in his family. He fled to become a hajduk, then joined the first Serbian uprising under Karađorđe in 1804. He fought bravely, but quarreled with his commanding officer and left the army to cross the Danube into Austrian-occupied Srem after the Ottomans recaptured Belgrade. He made his living as a guslar reciting epic poems and, as soon as the Second Serbian Uprising broke out in 1815, he joined the forces of Miloš Obrenović. Podrugović considered fighting to be more important than reciting poetry at the time.

Songs

Vuk Karadžić recorded for the first time many songs sung by Podrugović. The poem about Musa Kesedžija, named Marko Kraljević and Musa Kesedžija, recited by Podrugović was recorded for the first time in Sremski Karlovci in 1815 by Vuk Karadžić.^[4][5] The song about General Vuča was also recorded by Karadžić, based on the singing of Podrugović.^[6]

References