Momo = ♥ Beograda

U rukama držim knjigu, a na licu osmeh. “Šta je tu čudno?”- pitate se. Pa skoro ništa, osim ,naravno, da je ta knjiga, knjiga Mome Kapora. “Pa šta je tu čudno?”- pitate se opet. A ja vam kažem da ni tu skoro ništa nije čudno, osim da je Momo prvenstveno čovek, a zatim i pisac koji se ne zaboravlja.

Knjiga koju držim zove se “Sanja”...bar koliko ja znam. Postoji i drugi naziv “Onda”, ali meni je nekako lepši naziv Sanja. Valjda zato što se tako zove moja majka. Otkako znam za sebe, znam i za tu knjigu. Nikada mi nije mrsko da je iznova i iznova čitam. I svaki put kad je čitam, u meni raste neka toplina, koja me čini čovekom i koja u meni budi ljudskost.

In my hands I’m holding a book, and on my face I’m holding a smile. “What’s weird about that?”-you’re asking. Well, almost nothing, except,  of course, the thing that this book is a book by Momo Kapor. “So what’s weird about that?”-you’re asking again. And I’m telling you :”nothing “, except the thing that Momo is primarily a man, and then a writer, who can not be forgotten.

The book I’m holding is called “Sanja”…as far as I know. There is also alternative name “Then”, but I, somehow, think that “Sanja” is a better name. Perhaps  because that’s my mother’s name. Ever since I can remember, I know for this book.  I will never find it hateful to read this book over and over again. And everytime I read it, there is warmth that grows inside of me, and that makes me feel humanly.

Možda za to nije ni kriva sama knjiga, već  Momo. On u svima nama budi čovečnost. A to ne može postići puno pisaca. A da slučajnost bude još veća, Momo nije samo književnik, već i slikar, a i novinar.

Perhaps, the book is not the reason, perhaps the Momo is. We all feel more humanly because of Momo. And there are not many writers who can achieve that. What is even better is the fact that Momo is not only a writer, but also a painter, and journalist.

Njegova tužna, ali  čudna životna priča počinje u Sarajevu, 8. aprila 1937. godine.  Malo ljudsko biće došlo je na svet. Ali samo 5 dana kasnije, 13. aprila Nemci su ušli u Sarajevo, bombardovali ga I razrušili do temelja. U gradu je bila avet.  A Momo? Pa njegovu priču, posle toga, je najbolje opisao Dobrica Ćosić u svojoj knjizi “Prijatelji”, na osnovu razgovora koji je vodio sa Momom 2002. godine  : „Trinaestog aprila 1941. Nemci su bombardovali Sarajevo i pogodili zgradu ispod Trebevića u kojoj se bila sklonila Momčilova majka sa četvorogodišnjim sinčićem. U srušenoj kući svi su bili mrtvi. Momina majka je svojim telom spasla sina. Dečak se nekako izvukao iz ruševina, zakukao, pa zanemeo nad užasom, ne znajući kuda će. Našao ga je neki Rus, emigrant, lekar, sažalio se na njega i poveo ga u svoj stan. Prisvojio ga je, nije imao dece. Negovao ga je, voleo, zatrpavao igračkama da zaboravi majku i u belom mercedecu ga vozio po Sarajevu. Dečko je znao da mu je ime Momčilo, prezime nije znao. Prezime mu je dao dobar čovek Rus, krstio ga je Momčilo Hercegovac. Posle godinu dana života kod dobrog čoveka, Momčilo Hercegovac se razboleo od šarlaha, pa ga je spasitelj odneo u sarajevsku bolnicu. Tu ga je pronašla majčina tetka koga ga je godinu dana tražila po Sarajevu, obaveštena od nekog da je „jedno dete izašlo iz srušene kuće, odakle ga je neki čovek poveo sa sobom“. Kada je prezdravio od šarlaha, baba ga je odvela u svoju kuću i brinula se o njemu. Za Momčila Hercegovca brinuo je i Rus, koji se pridružio vlasovcima — saradnicima Nemaca, često ga posećujući s poklonima. Otac, koji je po povratku iz zarobljeništva, kao bankarski stručnjak, postavljen za načelnika u Ministarstvu spoljnih poslova u Beogradu, zbog patriotske savesti i odgovornosti tek godinu dana posle rata došao je u Sarajevo da vidi sina. Prema sinu se odnosio patrijahalno strogo i sve do smrti bio je nezadovoljan što mu se sin posvetio slikarstvu i književnosti, socijalnoj i životnoj neizvesnosti“. Rus, naravno, nije ni slutio da će upravo to opredeljenje Mome, biti od velikog značaja, kako samom Momi, kako narodu, tako i Beogradu.

His sad, but strange life story begins in Sarajevo, 8 april 1937. A little human being came into the world. But only 5 days later, 13th april the Germans entered into Sarajevo, bombed and destroyed it completely. The city was literally a ghost city. And Momo? Well, his story, after that, was best described by Dobrica  Ćosić, in his book “Friends”, based on conversation he had with Momo 2002^nd year : “ 13^th april 1941. the Germans bombed Sarajevo and hit the building below Trebević where Momcilo’s mother was with her four-year old son. In the ruined building they were all dead. Moma’s mother saved her son with her body. The boy somehow managed to pull out from the ruins, he started crying, and then he was speechless because of the horror, not knowing where to go. Some Russian immigrant, a doctor,  found him, and felt pity over him and took him to his apartment. He took care of him, he loved him, filled him with toys to forget his mother, and in a white Mercedes droved Momo around Sarajevo. The boy knew his name was Momčilo, he didn’t knew his surname. A good man Russian, gave him surname, he baptized Momo into Momčilo Hercegovac. After a year of life with a good man, Momčilo Hercegovac became ill of scarlet fever, so his savior took him to the Sararjevo hospital. There, he was founded by his mother’s aunt, who was searching for him around Sarajevo for a year, informed by someone that the “one child came out from the ruined house, where some man took him”. When he recovered from scarlet fever, grandmother took him to her house and took care of him. The Russian, who joined collaborators of the Germans, also took care for  Momčilo Hercegovac, and he often visited him with gifts.  The father, who returned from captivity, as a banking expert,  appointed as a Chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade, came to Sarajevo after war, to see his son, because of the patriotic conscience and responsibilities. To his son he was strictly patriarchal, and until his death he was unhappy that his son devoted himself to painting and literature, social and environmental uncertainty.”  The Russian man, of course, did not imagine that exactly that choice, which Moma made, is going to be of great matters, how for Moma, how for people , how for Belgrade.

Ovaj fenomen od čoveka, možda nije bio visok i plav, ali je definitvno pridobio srce Beograda isto onoliko koliko je i Beograd pridobio njegovo srce. Ceo Momin život vrteo se oko ovog starog grada, na koji skoro niko svesno nije obraćao pažnju, sem samog Mome. Upravo zato su sva Momina dela bila o Beogradu i Beogradjanima!

This phenomenon of man, may have been tall and blond, but he definately won over the heart of Belgrade just as much as the Belgrade won his heart. Moma’s whole life revolved around this old town, that nobody payed attention to, but the Momo. That’s why all Moma’s books  were about Belgrade and Belgrade people!

Prvo delo u nizu bila je knjiga „Beleške jedne Ane“, nastala  1972. posle Mominog diplomiranja slikarstva 1961. na beogradskoj Akademiji likovnih umetnosti u klasi Nedeljka Gvozdenovića.   „Dakle, drage moje devojčice, nije uopšte važno imate li četrnaest, sedamnaest, dvadeset ili pedeset šest godina! Susretao sam ja i devojčice od sedam¬deset i dve, i odmah se nekako videlo da su još klinke: mislim, videlo se to po načinu na koji su zirkale unaokolo i krile smešak u prste, kako su isprobavale perikla sa loknama boje zlata u rob¬noj kući ogledajući se malčice iskosa i vrlo koket-no — bile su to prave klinke od sedamdeset i dve godine, na časnu reč! Jer, drage moje naglo osta-rele devojčice, niste vi krive što se život našalio s vama, pa vas jednog jutra probudio kao i obično u pola šest, kad ono — osam banki. Opa! A vi se još pitate da li je 1900.“- bio je jedan odlomak iz ove predivne knjige napisane rukama 35 godišnjeg Mome. 

First in a a series of Moma’s work was the book „Notes of a Ana“, created the 1972nd after Moma’s graduation in art 1961st at the Belgrade Academy of Fine Arts in the class Nedeljko Gvozdenović. „So, my dear girls, it’s not importatnt at all if you are fourteen, seventeen, twenty, or fifty-six years! I met the girls who are seven-ten and two, and you could immediately see that they are somehow still kids: i mean, you could seeit in the way they were looking around and hid a smiles in there fingers , as they tried on wigs with golden curls in shopping-malls, watching themselves slightley askance and very coquette-they were the real kids of sevent-two tears, by my troth! Because, my dear suddenly aged girls, it’s not your fault that life made a joke with you, and then he woke you up one morning  as usual at 5.30 am, and you are – eight banks. Wow! And you are still wondering if it is 1900.“- this was an passage from this beautiful book written with pen of 35 year-old Momo.  

 

Zbog duhovitosti, nisu samo zabeležena dela, već i aforizmi:  

Vrednost - U zemlji slijepih jednooki čovjek je kralj.                                                                        Život  - Zar je čitava igra tako udešena, da upravo kad počneš da dobijaš, počinješ I da gubiš?

Because of his humor, tere are not just works that are recorded, but also aphorismis:

Value- in the land of the blind people, one-eyed man is king.                                                                  Life – is it the whole game so tricksy, that jaust when you start to win, you start to lose?

I pored 40 napisanih dela, ovaj boem u duši, kaže da ih nikada nije pročitao, osim par priča , i to onda kada od sebe krade kad treba da piše za novine. Duhoviti Momo nastavlja, pa kaže kako mu je inspiracija uvek bila i ostala prva i neuspela ljubav. On za nju piše u nadi da će ona to pročitati. Ona to, naravno, ne zaslužuje, verovatno  i ne čita, a i ako čita, onda on shvata da je ta njegova nekadašnja ljubav, sada baba od 72 godine, i užasne se toga.

Despite 40 written works, this bohemian at heart, says that he never reads them, except a few stories, and even then, only when he steals from himself when he needs to write for newspapers. Comic Momo continiues and says that his inspiration has always been his first and failed love. He writtes to her in hope that she reads that. She, of course, does not deserve that, and she probably doesn’t read that, and if she does then he realizes that his former love, now  granny of 72, and he horrifies for that.

O odnosu sa Beograđanima je dao jedan od najsavršenijih odgovora : „ Ja ne volim onu vrstu druženja kad majka kaže da je drugarica sa ćerkom. Ja nisam drugarica s mladom generacijom, ali sticajem okolnosti sedimo za istim stolovima ovde u konobi, šetamo kerove... Mislim da su oni tragična generacija. To je generacija bez pasoša. Svet i odrasli, u koje i ja verovatno spadam, oduzeli su im mogućnost da vide svet. To je užasno važno baš zbog ovog pitanja o nacionalizmu. Oni žive u virtuelnom svetu, oni nisu videli Dubrovnik, nisu videli Zagreb, Ljubljanu, Sarajevo, Trst! Oni nisu videli ništa. Ali oni govore savršeno engleski, za razliku od nas, koji još to nismo naučili kako treba. Oni su na kompjuterima, oni znaju svaki pab u Njujorku, svaki ćošak u Grinič Vilidžu, ali to ne vredi, to je virtuelni svet, koji nisi dotakao stopalima. Oni tek sad dobijaju pasoše. To je tragedija, zato što ne može da se oseti vrednost Beograda ako živiš stalno u Beogradu. Rečenica čoveka iz kioska kad zaboraviš lovu: „Dobro, komšija, donećeš sutra“, ili kad na Kalenića pijaci kupuješ kilo graška, on ti izvaže kilo i još baci šaku graška na to; to je nemoguće u Njujorku, to je nemoguće bilo gde na svetu. Nemoguće je pitanje: „Zdravo, kud si krenuo“, šta te briga kud sam krenuo, to je moja privatnost, ne možeš da pitaš čoveka u Briselu: „Zdravo, kuda ste pošli“. Ne možeš ti, kao u nekadašnjoj kafani Zora, a sad u nekoj drugoj kafani, kad neko naruči škembiće, da uzmeš sredinu od hleba i umočiš mu u tanjir, jebote! Pa to je smak sveta (smeh). Te dragocenosti zbog kojih život ovde ima prednost, pre svega količina slobodnog vremena, koje možemo da posvetimo sebi i drugima, svojim bližnjima, ta bliskost koja može da te nervira, da ti smeta, sve to dobija puno svetlo, ako ga gledaš odnekud sa zapada.“

 

• Voleo je u provincijskim gradovima subotu i nedelju ujutro, kad izađu ljudi u proleće, sednu za astal na sveže polivenu zemlju, naruče kafu ili rakiju i počnu da čitaju.

Tako da je lepo i to što je ostalo od Sarajeva, jer Sarajevo se razvejalo po svetu i svako je odneo neko svoje malo Sarajevo u Kanadu, Novi Zeland, Dansku... Sarajevo je jedan tragičan grad, a tragični gradovi porađaju veliku umetnost.Gradovi ostaju, ljudi se menjaju. Ko zna, jednoga dana i Sarajevo će možda promeniti svoje sadržaje. To je vrlo značajan grad, koji se ne može ubiti na taj način i ne može se iz njega odstraniti to tkivo srpsko koje mu je davalo jednu neverovatno dragocenu vrednost” .

He loved his old friends and Sarajevo. On one occasion he said: "It is a sad story. I hang out a lot with people from Sarajevo. They are refugees and they live in Belgrade and many other places. When we meet, we are talking about Sarajevo with nostalgia, with little pain, hurting our our  own shoulders. They are for me the most valuable thing of Sarajevo. They remember their city's famous beauty, a melody with which we played, all the smells, the density of fog, the peaks of the valley we climbed. So it's nice what is left of Sarajevo, because Sarajevo felt apart  all over the world and each one took their little Sarajevo in Canada, New Zealand, Denmark ... Sarajevo is a tragic city, and cities give birth of a great art . Cities remain high, people are changing. Who knows, one day Sarajevo may change its contents. This is a very important city, which can not be killed in this way and Serbian people, who gave an incredibly precious value to this city can not be removed from it".

Kao mlad nije ni primećivao da ga Beograđanke obožavaju, vole. Kada mu je gospođa na ulici prišla, i rekla kako je 61. dok je nosio beli džemper i izgledao kao Dilan Tomas bila zaljubljena u njega, on ju je pitao : „Gospođo što mi onda niste rekli, bio sam najnesrećniji, najusamljeniji momak na svetu!“. Medjutim u svojim delima Momo nikada nije pokazivao usamljenost. Nastavio je da piše, pa su tako usledila dela „Provincijalac”-1976. ; „Ada“- 1977. ; „Lanjski snegovi“-1977. ; „Hej, nisam ti to pričala“-1978. ;   „Zoe“-1978. ;  „Skitam i pričam: putopisni dnevnik“-1979 ; „101 priča“-1980. ; „Una: ljubavni roman“- 1981. ; „ Onda”- 1982. ; „Sentimentalno vaspitanje“- 1983. ; „Knjiga žalbi“- 1984. ; „011-Istok-Zapad“- 1990. ; „Halo, Beograd“- 1990. ; „Dama skitnica i off priče“- 1992. ; „Zelena čoja Montenegra“- 1992. ; „Blokada 011“- 1992. ; „100 nedelja blokade“- 1994. ; „Lero – kralj leptira“- 1995. ; „Poslednji let za Sarajevo“- 1995. ; „Hronika izgubljenog grada“- 1996. ; „Od sedam do tri“- 1996. ; „Smrt ne boli: priče iz poslednjeg rata“- 1997. ; „Najbolje godine i druge priče“-1997. ; „Uspomene jednog crtača“- 1998. ; „Ivana“ -2001. ; „Legenda o Taboru“- 2002. ; „Sanja“- 2003. ; „Čuvar adrese’’-2003. ; „Konte“- 2003. ; „Lep dan za umiranje“- 2004. ; „Dosije Šlomović“- 2004. ; „Ljubavne priče“-2004. ; „Samac“- 2004. ; „Eldorado“- 2005. ; „Putopis kroz biografiju“- 2006. Poslednja među njima je knjiga pod nazivom :  „A guide to the Serbian mentality“ -2006.godine

As a young, he never noticed that Belgrade girls love him. When a lady approached him, on the street, and said how she loved him back in 61st, when he was wearing a white sweater and looked like Dylan Thomas, he asked her: „Ma’am why haven’t you told me than, i was the most unhappy, loneliest guy in the world.“ But in his writtings, he never showed loneliness. He continued to write, and soon his many good and famous books came out: „Provincial“-1976. ; „Ada“-1977, ; „Last year’s snows“-1977. ; „Hey , i was not telling you that“-1978. ; „Zoe“-1978. ; „ I ramble and tell: travel diary“-1979. ; „101 story“-1980. ; „Una: love story“-1981. ; „Then“-1982. ; „Sentimental education“-1983. ; „Complaint book“-1984. ; „011-eastwest“-1990. ; „Hello, Belgrade“-1990. ; „The lady tramp and the off stories“-1992. ; „Green cloth Montenegro“ -1992. ; „Block 011“-1992. ; „100 weeks of block“-1994. ; „Lero- the king of butterflies“-1995. ; „The last flight to Sarajevo“-1995. ; „Chronicle of the lost city“-1996. ; „From seven to three“-1996. ; „Death does not hurt: stories from the last war“-1997. ; „The best years and other stories“-1997. ; „Memories of a drawer“-1998. ; „Ivana“-2001. ; „The legend of the camp“-2002. ; „Sanja“-2003. ; „Address guardian“-2003. ; „Conte“-2003. ; „Nice day to die“-2004, ; „Record  Šlomović“-2004. ; „Love stories“-2004. ; „Single“-2004. ; „Eldorado“-2005. ; „Travels trough the biography“-2006. ; „A guide to the Serbian mentality“ -2006.

Iako kaze kako nije mario svoj uspeh, jedan je sigurno postigao. Anu i Jelenu. Dve, tada male devojčice, sada vec žene, odrastale su u Mominim zagrljajima. Njegove dve ćerke,  osnivaci fonda  „Momo Kapor“. Pored fonda, supruga Ljiljana Kapor je osnovala zadužbinu „Momčilo Momo Kapor“, i ustanovila godišnju nagradu iz oblasti književnosti i likovne umetnosti. Prosle, 2010.,godine ova nagrada je uručena Emiru Kusturici za fantastičnu knjigu : „Smrt je neprovjerena glasina“. I zaista...smrt jeste neprovjerena glasina. Ne plaše se svi smrti. Momo nije!  U jednom od svojih poslednjih intervjua rekao je : „Smrt i ja smo na ti. Ne bojim je se, jer se ispostavilo da je ona potpuno uobičajena stvar koja daje dimenziju životu. Čovek koji ne misli o smrti svakog jutra kad se probudi, nije normalan“ - i dodao da smatra da mu je život podario sve najlepše stvari koje je želeo da dobije: „Jedino mi nije ostvario želju da budem visok i plav, sve ostalo sam dobio.“

Although he says he did not care for his success,  he surely achieved one.  Ana and Jelena. Two, then the little girls, now women, grew up in Moma’s hugs. His two daughters, founders of fund "Momo Kapor." In addition to the fund, wife Ljiljana Kapor founded the endowment "Momcilo Momo Kapor," and established an annual prize of literature and fine arts. Last, 2010^th  the prize was awarded to Emir Kusturica for fantastic book : “The death is unchecked rumor.” And really ... death is unchecked rumor. Not all are afraid of death. Momo is not! In one of his last interviews he said: "Death and I are on you. I am not afraid of it, as it turned out that it is completely normal thing that gives dimension to life. The man who does not think about death every morning when he wakes up, it’s not normal "- and added that he believed that his life gave him the best things that he wanted to get:" The only wish he did not gave me was to be tall and blond, I got everything else ".

Moma and his wife Ljiljana

Ovaj fenomenalni i najbolji pisac među slikarima i najbolji slikar među piscima, umro je u Beogradu 3. marta 2010. godine na Vojno-medicinskoj akademiji.  Na inicijativu Gradonačelnika Beograda, Dragana Đilasa, a po idejnom rešenju Ljiljane Kapor,  18. aprila 2011.godine, na Adi Ciganliji je otkriveno spomen obeležje u čast Mome Kapora – 4,5, metra visoka skulptura Dafne.

This phenomenal, and best writer among painters and best painter among the writers, died in Belgrade 3 March 2010 year, at the Military Medical Academy. At the initiative of Mayor of Belgrade, Dragan Djilas, a preliminary ruling by Ljiljana Kapor, 18^th April 2011, at Ada Ciganlija is discovered monument in honor of Momo Kapor - 4.5, foot-tall sculpture of Daphne.

 

Jer ipak, Momo Kapor je bio Beograd.
After all, Momo Kapor was Belgrade.