To the President of the Municipality of Mojkovac, Mr. Dejan Medojević
Dear Mr. Medojević, I am writing to you on the occasion of the decision of the Government of Montenegro from a few months ago to name a street in your city after Milovan Đilas. I consider this Decision very belated considering the worldwide recognition and importance of Milovan Đilas as an anti-fascist and liberal thinker of the XNUMXth century, which is not sufficiently noticed and valorized in Mojkovac and Montenegro.
By way of introduction, let me mention two things.
At the International Scientific Symposium held at the Faculty of Philosophy in Nikšić on 20-21. April 2012, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Milovan Đilas, a distinguished scientist from the USA, Mr. In his report, John Treadway presented the startling fact that the name of Milovan Đilas, with his Montenegrin, Mojkovac-Podbiška origins, was mentioned 1957 times in the New York Times alone from 2007 to 704. And secondly, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Mr. In his two interviews (Vreme 05 June 2012 and Novi magazin 26 October 2012) Milo Đukanović expressed his views on Milovan Đilas "as one of the three (politically) most significant historical figures of Montenegro".
The purpose of this address to you, as the most responsible person in the city, is the notification from the relevant address from abroad addressed to me that in Mojkovac - there is every chance - "a section of the highway from the bridge on Tara towards Podgorica, which goes through that hill and thorns and where there is not a single house. No one will ever say that he lives in M. Đilasa Street, only if an accident happens there, it will appear in the newspaper".
Dear sir, if this is true, and knowing Milovan Đilas's local opinion, the decision of the Government of Montenegro that should be implemented in Mojkovac must receive much wider, including international, media and any other attention and satisfaction.
I will mention only two things related to this year's naming of streets in the world, and it is related to the name of Milovan Đilas. First, this year in Amsterdam one of the main city squares was named after Milovan Đilas. And secondly, in the capital of Chile, Santiago, one of the city's main avenues was also named after Milovan Gilas.
I think it is inadmissible, civilizationally inadmissible and even primitive that a side dead-end street in his hometown, let alone a distant suburban street, should be named after Milovan Đilas. So much so that before Milovan Đilas was attached to Podbišće and Mojkovac with his whole being. In his novels and short stories, Mojkovac and Podbišće were mentioned countless times. With that act, he spread the glory of your city, but also of mine. I will not surprise you, the naming of city streets is an important, responsible, national and historical topic.
Finally, you know that M. Đilas was buried in his native village in 1995, and he could have been buried wherever he wanted. Even with that "last" act, he was indebted to Podbišće and Mojkovac, but also indebted to him. This is very important.
Dear Sir, I and (believe me) the relevant international academic and judicial public from Belgrade, New York, Chicago (MIT University) and Dusseldorf will follow your work on the adequate implementation of the Decision of the Government of Montenegro. We will not give up to give this planetary Montenegrin personality the street in Mojkovac that M. Đilas deserves.
I hope that you will understand my and our intentions in a highly responsible and statesmanlike manner. After everything said, as you can see, along with this letter I also sent you a copy of my book "Essays on Milovan Đilas". I want and ask you to accept the book. I am also sending you the book for literal and informative reasons. Namely, I studied numerous aspects of M. Đilas, including his view on the naming of city streets in post-war Belgrade. I briefly presented that topic in the book.
Bonus video:
