"The city is made up of people and only people. We recognize ourselves by them, we know each other by them and we will talk about ourselves by them. By them we will measure ourselves in pleasure, recognize ourselves in pain, by them in our heroism we will hold on to the strongest and strongest things that we need as citizens, as people", said M.Sc. Željko Rutović at the promotion of the book "People who remember" in Nikšić.
It is about a book he edited Maksim Vujacic, and published by "Comp Comerc" and the Society of Friends and Admirers of Nikšić. Editor of the edition, which is dedicated to creative, deceased personalities, who in the period 1945-2020. in their own way, in several areas, marked the time and space of Nikšić, is Vladimir Mrvaljevic, while the editorial staff, in addition to him and Vujačić, consists of Radovan Mijanović, Ranko Jovovic i Miljan Jokovic.
"Just as dark times need tall beacons, so small communities need great men. Between memory and oblivion, many things stopped and disappeared: historical destinies, dramas, personalities, spaces, cities, cultures, civilizations disappeared. There are many reasons. Along with memory, writing and reading live with civilization. If we became anything, we became because we wrote. In memory, writing down, reading, there are our traces, all duration. This book is a new place of residence, a new ethics and aesthetics of the notables who have given credit not only to Nikšić, but also to Montenegro and beyond," said Rutović.
According to him, the basic structure of the book goes beyond a literary-documentary text and has an exceptional civilizational and cultural value. Although, as he said, it is from Nikšić by origin and DNA code because it is about the people of Nikšić, it is also much broader than that because it is about people who, through their actions, crossed the borders of Montenegro and the former Yugoslavia a long time ago.
"It is the duty of all civilizations and cultures to find a title and bow for the names that have been titled 'People who are remembered' for a reason... Without people who are remembered, there are no people who are remembered, nor cities and countries," said Rutović.
Vladimir Mrvaljević, editor of the publication, said that a large number of Nikšić citizens deserve to be written about and that they were guided by certain criteria when selecting them - that they should be people who in the period from 1945-2020. made a great contribution to the development of Nikšić, that they are not among the living and that they spent most of their lives in the city under Trebjes (except for two benefactors and benefactors, for whom they could find photos of appropriate quality and valid biographical information).
"I am very satisfied that we did such a humane project and that we did not allow these great men to be forgotten," said Mrvaljević.
Radovan Mijanović, president of the Society of Friends and Admirers of Nikšić, which was founded in 1955, expressed his gratitude to everyone who helped the book see the light of day, and especially to the immediate and extended family members of the deceased personalities who wrote about them in the submitted photos and biographical information.
"In the 'Culture of Remembrance' program, we created a memorial collection with an exhibition display of photographs of personalities who are no longer alive, and which were entrusted to Nikšić in the period from 1945 to 2020," Miljanić said.
The evening was hosted by a journalist and member of the Society Dragan Mitov Đurović who said that each of the personalities discussed deserves a special book, because they embedded themselves in Nikšić and in Montenegro and in return left something special - a trace of memory.
“Cities are just like people. They have their youth, some of their time, their old age. They have their own memory, memories. It's just that people stand and leave, and cities stand and stay. Nikšić is a special city, a city that remembers through the ages, a city that remembers, that does not forget its champions. The book is woven from memories, records and another gem in the memory archive of the city of Nikšić, thanking everyone, especially the chronicler for his respect, Maksim Vujačić. Most of these memories belong to him, but he also collected the texts of other authors, which gave the book a special weight," said Đurović, who read excerpts from the book.
"Stari Nikšić" tribune will be renovated
Journalist, publicist and chronicler Maksim Vujačić, who edited the book, said that it is the first volume of a lexicon, because there are hundreds of people from Nikšić who deserve to be written about and plucked from oblivion. He also announced the new-old tribune of the Society of Friends and Admirers of Nikšić under the title "Old Nikšić", which was once held.
"It will start at noon on Sundays, and the topics and contents will be multimedia diverse. The forum guests will be eminent participants from Nikšić, the region and the world. I think we will start by broadcasting the documentary film 'In the trail of oblivion', which is dedicated to Vito Nikolić and a discussion about his life and work", said Vujačić.
Bonus video:
