PREDRAG GUGO LAZAREVIĆ - PROFESSOR, CRITIC AND SENATOR

BIJELJINA, SEPTEMBER 22 /SRNA/ - Predrag Gugo Lazarević /1929-2014/, writer and critic, member of the Senate of Republika Srpska, professor at the Pedagogical Academy, director of the National Theatre and director of the Petar Kočić National and University Library in Banja Luka, died on September 23, 2014.

Predrag Lazarević's family had been present in Banja Luka for more than 200 years. His father, Todor Lazarević, the fourth Ban of the Vrbas Banovina, was a doctor of law and a member of "Young Bosnia".

Predrag Lazarević grew up in a house that had a library containing more than 10,000 books. He was educated in Banja Luka and Belgrade, where he graduated from the Third Belgrade Grammar School and the Faculty of Philosophy.

He spent his entire working life in Banja Luka. He was a professor at Banja Luka Grammar School and later at the Teacher Training School. He then became deputy director and dramaturge at the National Theatre, later serving as its director, as well as an adviser at the Institute for Education and Pedagogy.

Lazarević was a professor and dean at the Pedagogical Academy, where he taught literary theory, after which he was appointed director of the Petar Kočić National and University Library in Banja Luka.

He was the first recipient of the Đuro Damjanović Award of the Association of Writers of Republika Srpska and also worked as a translator.

Predrag Lazarević had been a member of the Senate of Republika Srpska since 1996.

By a decision of the University Council in Banja Luka, Lazarević was awarded the title of honorary doctor of Serbian literature.