Luka Popović, son of Laza, was born in Belgrade in 1878 and died in Skopje in 1914. He was a member of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad from 1895 to 1900, and from August 1900 until June 1911, he was a member of the National Theatre in Belgrade. In the second half of 1911, he went to the United States, where he founded the "Serbian Theatre." During his theatre's stay in America, he received financial support from the Serbian government as well as from Serbs in America, led by Mihajlo Pupin. He gave performances in New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and other cities in the USA.
Here is what Borivoje Stojković wrote about his tour in America in his book *"History of Serbian Theatre from the Middle Ages to Modern Times,"* on pages 511 and 512:
"After the farewell performance on June 24, 1911, the proceeds of which were intended for this bold journey and venture, Popović set off for America with an additional 2,000 dinars granted to him by King Peter as a subsidy, once and for all. He arrived in New York alone, with several theatrical works in manuscript, of course without decorations, costumes, and props. The Serbian emigrants received him well, even patriotically and enthusiastically, especially the scientist Mihajlo Pupin, who helped with his own funds to create the decorations, costumes, and acquire props. In the initial enthusiasm, the Serbian consulate in New York and Pupin envisioned transforming this Serbian theatre into a permanent one, with professional actors who would be prepared from amateurs for this undertaking, and some would be invited from Serbia. This idea was also accepted by Milovan Milovanović, the president of the Serbian government, who was supposed to secure a subsidy. Pupin thought that the theatre could be sustained from its own income, primarily from performance revenues and regular support from wealthy emigrants. But this truly bold idea was not realized: Luka Popović returned to Serbia in the summer of 1912 to resolve the issue of the subsidy. Later it was revealed that he suffered from homesickness and was overwhelmed with an irresistible desire to continue his artistic work in his homeland. Meanwhile, the president of the government, Dr. Milovanović, passed away. Thus, a beautiful idea remained unfulfilled.
"The performers were amateurs, mostly from the ranks of the emigrant intelligentsia. They were trained by Luka Popović, who played all the major roles and was the main reciter at almost all the events. The amateurs, well-rehearsed, performed with considerable skill, especially with love and enthusiasm, and all of this was at its best in 1912 when the theatre soon ceased to operate due to Luka Popović's departure. After that, they occasionally worked on their own.
The audience consisted of emigrants and the American public. Some performances, especially national plays, were turned by the audience into enthusiastic, patriotic manifestations, cheering for their nation and homeland, and in some places, Luka Popović was carried on their shoulders.
The repertoire was national. The first play performed was the drama "Balkan Empress" by King Nikola in August 1911 in New York, and then in Philadelphia, Steelton, Lebanon, Pittsburgh, Steubenville, Cleveland, Chicago, Gary, Wilmerding, McKeesport, Cincinnati, Akron, and Detroit."
On this long tour, the theatre performed the following plays: *"Battle of Kosovo,"* Sterija's *"Hajduk Veljko,"* J. Dragašević's *"Love Letter,"* Trifković's *"Prince Marko and the Arab,"* Velja Miljković's *"Đurađ Branković,"* Obernik's *"Balkan Empress,"* Nikola Petrović's *"Hadži Loja,"* Nušić's *"The Badger Before the Court,"* and Petar Kočić's *"The Badger Before the Court."* Special artistic evenings also featured concerts where patriotic songs were recited, sung, and excerpts from plays were performed. This theatre, although short-lived, carried out a significant national and cultural mission among Serbian and Yugoslav emigrants."
An Extraordinary and Unmatched Family of Actors
Novi Bečej entered the history of Serbian theatre with the five daughters and two sons of Serbian priest Luka Popović from Vranjevo.
In our theatrical historiography, it is often mentioned that Luka Popović was from Ivanda, and such a mistake was made by his son-in-law Dimitrije Ružić in his memoirs.
Luka Popović was born in Vranjevo (today Novi Bečej), where he spent 39 years of his not-so-long life (he lived for 46 years). His four daughters and one son were born there, and then he moved with his family to the small village of Ovsenica in the Romanian part of Banat, where his fifth daughter, Sofija, was born. From Ovsenica, they moved to Ivanda, a slightly larger Serbian village in Romanian Banat, where he died in 1854. His son Paja, the youngest of seven children, was born in Ivanda.
According to the records of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Vranjevo, it is stated that a male child, Luka Popov (not Popović), son of Timotej and mother Stefanija, was born on February 15, 1808, according to the old calendar. He had two younger sisters: Sofija, born in 1810, and Ekaterina, born in 1812. He had no brothers, so Aleksandar Popović could not have been his brother.
I do not know when or if the family of Timotej Popov changed their surname to Popović, but Luka bore the surname Popović as early as the Sremski Karlovci Gymnasium. Vasa Stajić, in his book *"Velikokikindski District,"* highlights the "Districtians" who studied at the Serbian Gymnasium in Sremski Karlovci and Novi Sad in the 19th century, and among others, he mentions:
"Luka Popović, son of Timotej, a farmer from Vranjevo, studied in 1825-26 in Karlovci, completing the second grade of grammar, and in 1829-33 he finished the second class of humanity here as an excellent student."
From this, it could be assumed that Luka, as a student of the Karlovci Gymnasium, added "ić" to his surname and became Popović. At that time, this was not unusual, as it was the period of Serbian romanticism when people wanted to emphasize their "pure" Serbian identity in every possible way. This was likely also encouraged by the professors of the Serbian Gymnasium, so that even the surnames of students would have a completely Serbian character.
During the romantic period, younger people sought to return "ić" to their surnames, especially students and intellectuals in general. This was particularly true for those who returned to Serbia until the First World War. After the First World War and up to the present day, surname changes have become increasingly rare, regardless of which parts of Yugoslavia they were in. The surnames given by Austro-Hungarian officials during exile were retained.
After Pop-Luka's death in 1854 in Ivanda, seven of his children were left without care. Although the eldest daughter, Katarina, was 22 years old at the time of their father's death, and Draginja was 20, they all lived off their father's clerical entitlements. At that time, it was impossible in the village to count on any employment for children who had only completed elementary school, especially if they were girls. For them, marriage was the only solution, and in the case of Pop-Luka's children, none of them got married until they joined the Serbian National Theatre.
Such a material situation was an exceptional circumstance that led all of Luka Popović's children to choose the theatre. Thus, Serbian theatre gained very talented young women at a time when it was still considered a great sin for a girl to appear on stage, let alone to wear makeup and kiss on stage.
These prejudices persisted for quite some time, even after the founding of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad in 1861. In a letter from Vukovar, Draginja Ružić wrote to Jovan Đorđević: "Not one of these Vukovar ladies has the courage to step on the stage."
Luka's extended family, with sons, daughters, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and grandchildren, gave twenty or so notable actors. Besides his seven children, there were also: the daughter-in-law (Laza's wife) Marija Adelshajm; sons-in-law Dimitrije Ružić, Dimitrije Kolarović, Pera Dobrinović, while the fourth son-in-law, Aksentije Maksimnović, was a conductor at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad. Then there were the grandchildren: Emilija-Micika Popović, Zorka Todosić, Milka Marković, Ljubica Popović-Premović, Danica Popović, and Luka Popović, and the great-grandchildren: Dimitrijev-Mita Marković and Ljubica Todosić. The son-in-law by the granddaughter Milka, Mihajlo Marković, was a well-known actor and singer.
It is necessary to mention that the children of the priest Luka Popović were all particularly talented for the stage, and above all, hardworking and ambitious, serving as an example. They were especially
lucky that each of the girls married a highly talented and versatile actor, and that they had talented children. Therefore, all members of the large Popović-Ružić-Kolarović-Dobrinović family felt they had to be up to the task, regardless of whether they performed in Novi Sad, Belgrade, or the provinces, and they did it successfully.
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