Status of monument -> National monument
Pursuant to Article V para. 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 39 para. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, at a session held from 6 to 9 September 2011 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The residential architectural ensemble of the birthplace of Vladislav Skarić (Jeftan Despić’s house, the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina) in Sarajevo is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of the house, courtyard, outside walls and an outbuilding.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 1283 and 1285 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. no. 18, mahala XXXVIII Sarajevo (old survey), Land Register entry no. 70, cadastral municipality Sarajevo I, Municipality Stari Grad, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02, 6/04 and 51/07) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, conservation, restoration and presentation of the National Monument.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and setting up signboards with basic details of the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument on the area defined in Clause 1 para. 2 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:
- all works are prohibited other than conservation-restoration works, restoration works, works designed to ensure the sustainable use of the property, and works designed for the presentation of the monument, subject to the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning (hereinafter: the relevant ministry) and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the heritage protection authority);
- the erection of temporary facilities or permanent structures not designed solely for the protection and presentation of the National Monument is prohibited;
- the National Monument may be used for its original purpose and its presentation for educational and cultural purposes that do not compromise the National Monument, and may be adapted to bring it into line with modern needs provided that the stylistic characteristics of the property are retained, subject to the approval of the relevant ministry and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority;
- the original interior furnishings (musanders, dolaf, stove and built-in shelves) shall be preserved.
IV
All executive and area development planning acts are hereby revoked to the extent that they are not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision.
V
Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Canton, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the protection thereof.
VI
The Government of the Federation, the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning, the Federation heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II to V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VII
The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.kons.gov.ba)
VIII
Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.
IX
On the date of adoption of this Decision, the National Monument shall be deleted from the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02, Official Gazette of Republika Srpska no. 79/02, Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH no. 59/02, and Official Gazette of Brčko District BiH no. 4/03), where it featured under serial no. 523.
X
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of BiH.
This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Martin Cherry, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović and Ljiljana Ševo.
No: 02-2.3-77/11-26
7 September 2011
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Ljiljana Ševo
E l u c i d a t i o n
I – INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a “National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments adopted a decision to add the Museum of Literature in Sarajevo to the Provisional List of National Monuments under serial no. 523.
Pursuant to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the property as a national monument, pursuant to Article V para. 4 of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.
Statement of Significance
The residential architectural ensemble of the birthplace of Vladislav Skarić (Jeftan Despić’s house, the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a property of great historical, artistic and townscape value. It is important as the birthplace of the famous historian and scholar Vladislav Skarić, whose principal works deal with the origins, history and development of Sarajevo. From 1886 to 1951 the property was owned by a leading merchant family of Sarajevo, the Jeftić family, until it became state property. Since 1961 it has housed the Museum of Literature, which expanded its interests in 1969 to include the performing arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The exhibition hall of the Mak Gallery opened in the ground floor of the Museum in September 1992.
The national monument consists of the house, courtyard, outside wall and an outbuilding. The house was built with two storeys and a porch. Parts of the original interior furnishings of the house (musanders, dolaf, stove and built-in shelves) are still extant.
II – PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE
In the procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a national monument, the following documentation was inspected:
- details of the current condition and use of the property, including a description, architectural survey and photographs,
- an inspection of the current state of the property,
- a copy of the cadastral plan,
- a copy of the Land Register entry,
- historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision.
Pursuant to Article V para. 2 of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 37 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission, before rendering a final decision designating a property as a national monument, the Commission is required to provide the owner of the proposed monument, the person submitting the petition, the institutions responsible for heritage, professional and academic institutions, experts and scholars, as well as other interested parties, to express their views. Accordingly, the Commission sent a letter ref. 02-35.2-8/11-2 dated 10 January 2011 requesting documentation and views on the designation of the birthplace of Vladislav Skarić as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Stari grad Municipality, the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of BiH, the Federal Ministry of Regional Planning, the Institute for the Protection of Monuments under the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Development Planning Authority of Sarajevo Canton, the Construction Authority of Sarajevo Canton, the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo Canton and the Archives of BiH.
In response, the Commission has received the following documentation:
- letter ref. 25/-1/11 of 8 August 2011 from the Cantonal Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo supplying documentation for the designation of the property as a national monument;
- letter reg. 06-31-06/11 of 12 January 2011 from Stari grad Municipality supplying documentation but not giving any opinion on the designation of the property as a national monument;
- letter ref. 02-23-209/11 of 17 January 2011 from the Development Planning Authority of Sarajevo Canton supplying documentation for the designation of the property as a national monument;
- letter ref. 03-23-2-51/11 of 12 January 2011 from the Federal Ministry of Regional Planning notifying the Commission that they are unable to supply the information and documentation requested;
- letter ref. 07-40-4-126-1/11 of 18 January 2011 from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments under the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport supplying the information requested for the designation of the property as a national monument.
The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the property are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The birthplace of Vladislav Skarić is at no. 5 Sime Milutinovića Street, in the quarter of Sarajevo city centre formerly known as Latinluk(1).
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot nos. 1283 and 1285 (new survey), corresponding to c.p. no. 18, mahala XXXVIII (old survey), Sarajevo, Land Register entry no. 70, cadastral municipality Sarajevo I, Municipality Stari Grad, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical background
In the absence of accurate information on the date of the building, it may be assumed to date from the latter half of the 18th century(2). It was originally owned by the Skarić family(3), and is therefore known as the birthplace of Vladislav Skarić(4).
In 1886 it passed into the ownership of the Despić family(5), a leading Serb merchant family, in the persons of Jeftan Despić, Mara Rajković née Despić, Daša and Ana Despić and, from 1889, Jeftan Despić alone(6).
From 1919 to 1951 the house was owned by the Despić heirs(7), before becoming public property. Since 1961 it has housed the Museum of Literature(8), which expanded its interests in 1969 to include the performing arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina(9). The exhibition hall of the Mak Gallery opened in the ground floor of the Museum in September 1992.
2. Description of the property
The entrance to the property is on the east side of the plot, from Sime Milutinovića Street (formerly Koturova Street). A wall about 220 cm in height(10), with a tiled two-pitch coping, separates the building from the street; a wooden doorway at the south end of the courtyard wall leads into the courtyard. The wooden door was replaced in 2007 by a new copy of the old one.
Part of the courtyard is cobbled and part is paved with flagstones.
The house has a basement, ground floor and first floor.
The courtyard of the museum contains an outbuilding housing the visitors’ toilets. This building, probably of the same date as the house (as indicated on the drawing from a survey conducted in 1905), is compromising the integrity of the façade by abutting onto the edge of the northern part. The exterior of the outbuilding is linked to the main house by latticework matching that on the first-floor veranda.
Basement
The entrance to the basement is from the courtyard on the east of the building, via a single flight of stone steps. The basement is at spot level -2.68, and measures 477 x 455 cm. The stone walls are about 70 cm thick. At a later date, reinforced concrete walls 12 cm thick were cast on the inside of the stone walls, blocking the openings, two windows to the west and two niches to the south. Subsequently a small entrance area of 180 x 140 cm was also created. The basement now has only two openings to the east, with metal shutters on the outside. The basement has a concrete floor, or a later addition. The ceiling is 258 cm high.
In 1998 the basement was converted into the museum’s storage facility, with temperature and humidity controls. The museum’s holdings are kept in metal lockers.
Ground floor
The entrance to the Mak Gallery exhibition hall is at ground-floor level on the east side of the building, through an open portico followed by a double-valved, arched wooden portal 170 cm in width and 221 cm in height. The door is fitted with an iron shutter on the outside. The gallery is now open-plan, since part of the original bearing and partition walls were removed in 1988. In the process, the exhibition hall was enlarged to the south, and now extends beyond the original footprint of the building into part of the ground floor of the next-door building. Before this enlargement, the ground floor as a whole measured 23 x 14 m; with the extension, it now measures 30 x 14 m. The exhibition hall, which measured 12 x 7.5 m before it was enlarged, is sub-divided by arched openings within the hall(11). The central section, entered straight from the courtyard, measures 573 x 495 cm, and has two rectangular wooden windows with a total width of 82 cm and height of 155 cm, fitted with iron grilles on the outside. The northern part of the gallery measures 537 x 515 cm, and has three windows of 95 x 155 cm, also rectangular and of wood with iron grilles. Proceeding southwards from the exhibition hall, one enters the service quarters of the gallery. The gallery ceiling is 278 cm high. The extension to the gallery, the ground floor of the next-door building, is irregular in plan and contains a corridor, toilet block and office, all of modern building materials.
The entrance to the Silvija Strahimir Kranjčević room is on the east side of the building. The room measures 537 x 590 cm, and the entrance 108 x 210 cm. The room is on two levels, with two steps in the middle of the room, a difference of 44 cm; the lower level has a tiled floor and the higher has wooden floorboards. Light enters the room through two windows, arched on the inside, with a daylight width of 70 cm and a height of 95 cm, fitted with iron grilles on the outside. A wooden staircase leads from this room upstairs to the Hasan Kikić and Petar Kočić rooms. The space under the stairs is enclosed by latticework and serves as a musandera (cupboard). A wall cupboard with shelves occupies the angle of the south and west walls. The higher level of the room contains a tiled stove at the foot of the stairs, decorated with moulded circles and rhombs in shades of green. The stove is square, with four stages of which only the first, containing the ash-box, is undecorated.
First floor
A wooden exterior staircase on the south side of the building leads to the semi-open first-floor veranda, which is supported by the segmental arches and columns of the ground-floor porch – five columns with a radius of 5 cm set 3 m apart, which rest on circular bases about 15 cm high and have composite capitals painted brown. The capitals are about 40 cm in height, and the columns about 175 cm.
The first floor, which measures 23 x 14 m overall, consisted of three separate rooms entered from the veranda: room 1, measuring about 575 x 500 cm, room 2 about 600 x 500 cm, and room 3 about 577 x 630 cm, each with its own small side room. Room 3 led – and still leads – down to the ground floor (the Silvija Strahimir Kranjčević room) and the outbuilding. Later, the first floor was divided by a number of thin partition walls to form the Museum’s offices. The veranda still leads into rooms 1 and 2 through arched doorways in the west wall, but there is now no access from it to room 3(12).
The most representative room on the first floor (room 3) is now the room dedicated to Hasan Kikić and Petar Kočić. Measuring 630 x 580, it is lit from two sites: two arched windows to the east, measuring 96 x 197 cm overall, and two rectangular windows to the west, measuring 112 x 211 cm overall. A carved wall cupboard of 95 x 140 cm with a depth of 20 cm occupies the west wall between the windows, at 158 cm above floor level. The wrought iron door that formerly opened onto the veranda is in the south wall, 50 cm above floor level. Wooden stairs with a wooden hatch at the top lead down from this room to the Silvija Strahimir Kranjčević room on the ground floor.
Room 3 has a slatted ceiling with an ortaluk(13) (centrepiece) consisting of a wooden octagon fixed to the ceiling slats and surrounded by a carved wooden strip. The central section of the ortaluk is composed of hexagonal panels with inscribed rosettes; this section is surrounded by another two octagonal rings, the first decorated with zigzags in relief and the second with a wavy line. The room has wooden floorboards.
This room opens onto a small landing and then to a double-flight wooden staircase, lit from the west and leading to the attic. The landing also opens onto a small room which leads out onto the balcony and terrace over the outbuilding.
The ceiling joists are wooden; the walls are of stone, unbaked brick and fired brick. Modern materials and construction were used during the alterations of the 1980s and 1990s(14).
The roof has wooden trusses and is clad with tiles.
Façade
The façade is in two parts – to the north, where there is no porch, and to the south, with the porch.
The northern part of the façade, which is a solid wall, is articulated horizontally by the different finishes of the ground and first floors: the ashlar stone of the wall is left exposed on the ground floor, whereas the first floor is plastered and painted white.
The upper storey contains two arched windows with brown-painted frames, the lunettes of the arch filled with floral ornament in deep relief. The lower storey has two small openings with exposed stone window jambs and lintels.
This part of the façade is dominated by an arched portal with a wood and glass door, the lower part of which is decorated with geometric designs (squares and rectangles) in relief. A spiral frames the door, defining the outline of the portal. The lunette is filled with a carving in deep relief of two birds drinking, surrounded by a floral interlace.
The southern part of the façade, with its five columns at ground-floor level and five semicolumns on the first floor, is much more dynamic. Two sections between the first-floor semicolumns are open, and two are enclosed. The columns are linked by arched triforate windows. This part of the façade is enlivened not only by the columns of the porch, but also by the five windows on the ground floor with its central portal, the triforate windows on the first floor, and the open wooden staircase with wooden stair rail.
All the windows are outlined by a wavy line in deep relief. Below the ground floor windows are rectangular recesses, only one of which was filled with a relief decoration – a dragon in a vine – at the time this decision was being prepared.
Aleksandar Ljiljak relates in his Sačuvati književnu i pozorišnu riznicu that “the sculptress Iva Despić(15), wife of Aco Despić, the last owner of the building(16), contributed greatly to enhancing the outward appearance of the building.”This is reflected in the mouldings on the façade, and the decorative mouldings around the openings, on the capitals of the ground-floor porch and the semicolumns of the first floor. The capitals of the columns echo the form of the composite order – in this case, a combination of acanthus leaves carved as if growing from the shaft of the column with sculpted human heads and a ram’s head at the angles of the capitals. Birds and an eagle with wings outspread feature as details on the east-facing abacus. The capitals of the semicolumns on the first floor are in the style of the Ionic order.
3. Legal status to date
The house at no. 5 Sime Milutinovića Street in Sarajevo was placed under state protection by ruling of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of NR Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo no. 536/52 of 1952.
The birthplace of Vladislav Skarić was entered on the register of immovable cultural monuments by ruling of the City Institute for the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Monuments in Sarajevo no. 139/70 of 1970.
The property was listed, but was not protected was not entered in the Register of Immovable Cultural Monuments by the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of BiH, under the heading Jeftan Despić’s house.
The Museum of Literature in Sarajevo is on the Provisional List of National Monuments of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, under serial no. 523.
4. Research and conservation-restoration works
Interventions to the property
- 1989 – remedial building works and adaptation of the premises of the Museum of Literature, consisting of(17):
- demolishing the partition walls on the ground and first floor, taking down the wooden ceiling over the premises leading to the rooms in the new building, piercing arched openings of 4.20 x 2.40 cm in the bearing walls of the existing building, making openings in the 25 cm thick reinforced concrete walls in the new part of the building (openings of 240 x 240 cm and 100 x 210 cm), removing the dilapidated parquet flooring in the existing building;
- installing an MB30 reinforced concrete ceiling with insertion and concreting a reinforced concrete ring beam into the existing perimeter walls, concrete base for stone or tile floor in the existing building of MB20, 8 cm thick;
- laying solid brick walls 12 cm thick in lime mortar, rough and fine plastering new partition walls with lime plaster;
- laying termik [thermal insulation?] in the floor of combination tiles 5 cm thick;
- smoothing the walls in the new and old parts of the building, smoothing the ceilings in the new and old parts of the building, painting with white Jupol;
- installing services;
- the works contractor was the Sedrenik building works organization of Sarajevo.
- 1998 – the following building trades works were carried out on the storage facility for the holdings and works of art of the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of BiH(18):
- preparatory works, consisting of clearing the premises and laying out the stored material, demolishing the shaft and bearers of the brick chimney in p.c.m., fitting a reinforced concrete beam in the stone wall, dismantling the wooden windows with casing measuring 70 x 80 cm, removing rammed clay of 5 cm average thickness from the basement floor, stripping lime plaster from the stone wall to a height of 3 m. All material taken to the city landfill;
- reinforced concrete works, consisting of concreting an 8 cm thick hydroinsulation base with MB15 concrete, concreting a 12 cm thick reinforced concrete floor slab with MB30 concrete, concreting 12 cm thick reinforced concrete walls with MB30 concrete on a one-sided facing 8.5m2/m3, concreting 12 cm thick reinforced concrete walls with MB30 concrete on a double-sided facing 17m2/m3, concreting a POZ 101 reinforced concrete beam with MB30 concrete in the required facing 25m2/m3, procuring and cutting rebars, fabricating and installing rebar cage (CBG 240/360, CBR 400/500, CBM 500/560);
- masonry works, consisting of pointing the stone wall with cement mortar after first cleaning with high-pressure water, rough levelling of the uneven walls with cement plaster, building solid brick walls 12 cm thick in cement mortar, installing a protective layer of hydroinsulation with 4 cm thick cement screed before laying rebars, laying 5 cm thick cement screed lightly reinforced as final base for vinyl tiles, rough and fine plastering the walls faced with Heraklith tiles with lime cement mortar, rough and fine plastering brick walls after first injecting with cement;
- hydroinsulation works, consisting of laying insulating flooring of three layers of V-30 Biverplast by welding and bending 30 cm at the walls and a 10 cm overlap, laying vertical hydroinsulation of two layers of V-30 Biverplast, with welding and 10 cm overlap, laying Sika mortar(19) on the reinforced concrete ceiling with brick vault including all necessary preparatory works, laying Sika mortar;
- around the openings (windows and doors), and overlap with vertical black insulation approx. 30 cm around the edge;
- thermoinsulation works – laying 5 cm thick Tervol PTP rockwool in double-sided PVC sheet on the floor of the storage facility, facing the walls with 5 cm thick combination tiles;
- the main project for the art storage facility was designed by Fabing of Sarajevo;
- the remedial and building trades works for the adaptation of the premises of the Museum of Literature of BiH were carried out by F.S. Euroconsulting of Sarajevo;
- the authenticity of the property has been lessened by these interventions.
5. Current condition of the property
The property currently houses the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has been adapted for the museum’s purposes. The structure is in relatively good condition. Damage takes the form of damage to the plaster on the outside walls and in the interior.
6. Specific risks
- lack of maintenance;
- adverse effects of the elements.
III – CONCLUSION
Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.
The Decision was based on the following criteria:
A. Time frame
B. Historical value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.iii. proportions
C.iv. composition
C.v. value of details
D. Clarity (documentary, scientific and educational value)
D.iv. evidence of a particular type, style or regional manner
D.v. evidence of a typical way of life at a specific period
F. Townscape/ Landscape value
F.ii. meaning in the townscape
G. Authenticity
G.ii. material and content
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Photodocumentation
- photographs of the property taken by Nermina Katkić and Aida Bucalović on [DATE] using Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H10 digital camera
- photographs supplied by the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Other documentation
- drawings dating from 1964 by civil engineers E.Dimitrijević and I. Tometinović:
1. ground floor, plan
2. first floor, plan
3. roof plan and section
4. plan for conversion of roof space into office premises
- main project for the Museum’s storage facility, 1996, designed by Fabing, a private design, consultancy and engineering firm, chief designer Nikola Maslej BSc.Arch
1. basement, plan, current layout
2. basement, plan, proposed layout
3. section 1-1, current
4. section 1-1, proposed
5. section 2-2, current
6. section 2-2, proposed
- bill of quantities and cost estimate for the main project for the art storage facility. Quotation for remedial building and trades works for the adaptation of the Museum of Literature of BiH.
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the monument as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina the following works were consulted:
1977. Jandrić, Ljubo. Sa Ivom Andrićem 1968.-1975 (With Ivo Andrić, 1968-1975). Belgrade: Srpska književna zadruga, 1977.
1985. Skarić, Vladislav. "Sarajevo i njegova okolina od najstarijih vremena do austrougarske okupacije” (Sarajevo and environs from ancient times to the Austro-Hungarian occupation), Izabrana djela (Selected works) vol. I. Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1985.
1987. Likovna enciklopedija Jugoslavije (Art encyclopaedia of Yugoslavia), 2 K-Rem. Zagreb: Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod “Miroslav Krleža,” 1987.
1987. Krzović, Ibrahim. Arhitektura BiH 1878–1918 Architecture of Bih 1878-1918). Sarajevo: Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1987.
2001. Ljiljak, Aleksandar. Sačuvati književnu i pozorišnu riznicu (Preserving the treasury of literature and the performing arts). Monograph of the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts. Sarajevo: 2001.
2004. Niškanović, Vilma, “Despića kuća i zaostavština porodice Despić u zbirci Muzeja grada Sarajeva” (The Despić house and the legacy of the Despić famly in the collection of the Sarajevo Museum), Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja BiH, no. 46/2004, 185-205.
Documentation from the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo Canton
(1) The quarter of Dubrovnik merchants, known as Latinluk or Frenk-mahala, situated between the Latin Bridge and Ćumurija, or in other words the area between the Gazi Husrev-bey bezistan and the Princip Bridge [the alternative name for the Latin Bridge], now Zrinjski and Štrosmajer Streets.” (Hatidža Čar, “Nemuslimansko stanovništvo Sarajeva u 17. stoljeću,” Prilozi historiji Sarajeva, Sarajevo: Institut za istoriju, Sarajevo 1997.)
(2) According to the Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo Canton.
(3) “The Skarić family lived in their house in what is now Koturova Street. The house is now owned by Jevtan Despić.” (Vladislav Skarić, Izabrana djela, vol. 1, “Sarajevo i njegova okolina od najstarijih vremena do austrougarske okupacije,” “Iz Trgovačkih tevtera i pisama,” Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša, 1985, 345)
(4) “Vladislav Skarić was born in the house on 22 June 1869 and died on 6 August 1943 in a house in Obala Pariške komune Street in Sarajevo. An eminent historian and scholar, he graduated in history and geography in Graz in 1894. He worked first as a curator and later as director of the National Museum in Sarajevo until his retirement in 1936. His principal works deal with the origins, history and development of Sarajevo.” (Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo Canton.) His principal works include “Iz Trgovačkih tevtera i pisama,” “Iz stare mahale i čaršije,” “Mula Mustafa Bašeskija sarajevski hronicar 18. vijeka,” “Sarajevo i njegova okolina od najstarijih vremena do austrougarske okupacije,” and “Srpski pravoslavni narod i crkva u Sarajevu u 17. i.18. vijeku.”
(5) “Family tradition records that the Despići originated from the village of Samobor in Herzegovina, on the edge of the Gacko polje, and that young Risto Slijepčević came to Sarajevo in the mid 18th century, learned his trade as a furrier, and married Despa, the daughter of a caravanserai keeper from the Nahod caravanserai in Natkovači. The tradition also has it that Despa was largely the reason for the family’s adopting the surname Despić: her sons, Maksim and Nikola, were known as Despa’s boys, and the whole family took the surname Despić. Nikola Ristić (Despić) bought a house in the quarter known as Latinluk in or around 1780, a storeroom in the Tašlihan caravanserai, and a shop, and began to trade in the modern European way. From being small-time craftsmen who had begun to sell the goods made in their own furriers’ workshop, the Despić family became one of the leading merchant houses in Sarajevo, as they developed successful trade connections with south-eastern Europe and Istanbul, and expanded their business links to Italy, Austria and Germany. The descendants of Nikola Ristić (Despić) have perpetuated the family tradition of working as furriers and trading in furs to this day. Their trade in furs and other goods led the Despić family to belong to the wealthiest stratum of the furriers’ čaršija. By way of illustration, in 1854 their working capital amounted to 68,995.16 silver florins, and three years later they were earning almost 33% on their investment. Nor did they invest only in their business; they also bought property. By the mid 19th century they owned three houses, two large shops in Veliki Ćurčiluk Street, and two storerooms in the Tašlihan.
The family was associated with the Serbian Orthodox community, within which the cultural and political life of Sarajevo’s Serbs took place. As distinguished members of the community, they were elected by it to represent their people in its dealings with the Turkish authorities. Thus Hatji Makso Despić was elected in this capacity in 1873, along with another four prominent Serbs. During the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hatji Makso Despić was a Sarajevo City councillor from 1878 to 1884, and was also in charge of tobacco production; in 1878 he travelled to Vienna and Pest as a member of a deputation formed to express to Emperor Franz Josef the “national aspiration to freedom, as well as their allegiance.” But their involvement in the running of the city did not prevent the Despić family from joining others of like mind among the Serb and Muslim population in protesting against the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Despić family expressed its loyalty to the Orthodox Church by joining fund-raising activities to complete the construction of the Orthodox Cathedral church in Sarajevo in 1872, and by donating costly articles to the Serbian Orthodox church of the Holy Archangels in Sarajevo and the Orthodox church in Jerusalem. As well as their involvement in the Serbian Orthodox parish, the Despić family were also active in the Prosvjeta Serbian education and cultural society and the Sloga choral society. Some members of the society not only worked on behalf of Prosvjeta but also made legacies to it. I regard Jeftan Despić’s efforts to collect various materials, sort them and found the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox church in Sarajevo in 1890 as of considerable importance.” (Vilma Niškanović, “Despića kuća i zaostavština porodice Despić u zbirci Muzeja grada Sarajeva,” Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja BiH, no. 46/2004, 185-205)
(6) Ibrahim Krzović, Arhitektura Bosne i Hercegovine 1878.-1918, Sarajevo: Umjetnička galerija Bosne i Hercegovine, 1987, 111,
(7) “From 1919, the heirs of Jeftan Despić: his widow Gospava, his son Dr Aco, his daughters Ljeposava Ljeskovac, Bosiljka (married name Blagojević), Smilja and Dana Despić“ (Ibrahim Krzović, Arhitektura Bosne i Hercegovine 1878.-1918, Sarajevo: Umjetnička galerija Bosne i Hercegovine, 1987, 111)
(8) Pursuant to the Law on the Museum of Literature (Official Gazette of NR BiH no. 53/60) and the Law on the Museum of Literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of R BiH 38/67), it continued operating as a central and separate museum known as the Museum of Literature of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(9) The Museum’s operations were expanded by ruling of the District Commercial Court in Sarajevo no. U/I-862/77, after which it continued operating as the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 20/77, in which the Law on the Museum of Literature and the Performing Arts of BiH was also published). Under the terms of this Law, the Museum was a public institution, which was confirmed by the Order with legal force on museum activities (Official Gazette of RBiH no. 13/93).
(10) It is impossible to tell what the wall is built of on account of the thick rendering of cement plaster. The moulding of the upper part suggests it could be brick-built.
(11) in 1989, arched openings were pierced in the bearing walls of the existing building.
(12) The wrought-iron door is preserved, and can be seen inside room 3 (the Petar Kočić and Hasan Kikić room).
(13) From the Turkish ortalık, meaning something that is in the middle. Trans.
(14) Details of these materials and interventions are given in Clause 4 of the Elucidation.
(15) Iva Despić, sculptress (Zagreb, 18 April 1890 – 12 July 1961), studied at the College of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, and following an exhibition in the Ulrich salon in 1910, pursued further studies in Munich and Paris. Her plaques and medallions were inspired by the early Renaissance masters, while for her charming portraits of children and her figurines she used an impressionist approach to her modelling. See Likovna enciklopedija Jugoslavije, 1 A-K. (Zagreb: Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod “Miroslav Krleža,” 1987), 147.
(16) Aleksandar Ljiljak, Sačuvati književnu i pozorišnu riznicu, monografija Muzeja književnosti i pozorišne umjetnosti, Sarajevo, 2001, 5.
(17) From bid for remedial and building trades works for the adaptation of the Museum of Literature of BiH and final situation.
(18) From bill of quantities and cost estimate for works of the main project for the art storage facility.
(19) Translator’s note: the original text has “silka malter” (“malter” meaning mortar) but I can find no reference to “silka mortar;” so I wonder if it is a typo for “Sika” and if one or more of the Sika sealant or filler products is meant.
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