Branislav R. Milosavljević (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав Р. Милосављевић; 2 August 1879 – 17 April 1944) was a poet and a colonel of the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia, the first mayor of Durrës within Drač County and author of numerous patriotic poems, most notably the famous war poem Izgnanici, better known as Kreće se lađa francuska (The French Ship is Sailing).

During World War I, his patriotism inspired him to write stirring war songs, one of which, Kreće se lađa francuska, was printed by the order of King Peter I of Serbia and distributed in the thousands. It was immediately transcribed into music.

Branislav Milosavljević

In 1940, Milosavljević retired to his property in Belgrade, where he, by his vast library of books, devoted himself to literature for the rest of his life. Milosavljević's dramatic talent was characteristically Serbian, his poems were well constructed and effective, arousing emotions.

Branislav Milosavljević

After returning from Nazi captivity, he was killed in Belgrade on 17 April 1944 as a result of the Allied bombing of Yugoslavia.

Branislav Milosavljević

References

1879 births

1944 deaths

Military personnel from Požarevac

Royal Serbian Army soldiers

Serbian military personnel of the Balkan Wars

Serbian military personnel of World War I

Royal Yugoslav Army personnel of World War II

World War II prisoners of war held by Germany

Serbian male poets

Mayors of Durrës

20th-century Serbian people

Deaths by airstrike during World War II

Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery

Serbian civilians killed in World War II

Yugoslav prisoners of war

People from the Kingdom of Serbia

Serbian poets