Abdulah Sidran


Abdulah Sidran, often referred to by his hypocoristic nickname Avdo, is a Bosnian poet and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the poetry book Sarajevski Tabut and the scripts for When Father Was Away on Business and Do You Remember Dolly Bell?.

Early life and family

Abdulah Sidran, the second of four children, was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 2 October 1944, although several sources inaccurately give his date of birth as 29 September 1944. His parents were Muslims and ethnic Bosniaks; father Mehmed was born in Kiseljak and worked as a locksmith at a railway workshop, while his mother Behija was a housewife. Sidran has three siblings Ekrem, Nedim and Edina. He was named after his paternal uncle, a typographer and compositor, who perished in 1943 at the Jasenovac concentration camp. The Sidran family roots trace back to the hamlet Biograd near Nevesinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Abdulah's paternal grandfather Hasan Sidran relocated to Sarajevo from Biograd in 1903.

Personal life

After spending most of his life in Sarajevo, Sidran lived in Goražde before moving to a small village near Tešanj where he currently lives.
In 2019 Abdulah Sidran, together with some thirty world intellectuals met with French President Emmanuel Macron. A meeting of world intellectuals with the president of France was initiated by the French philosopher, writer and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy.

Works

His major works include Šahbaza, Bone and Meat, The Sarajevo Tomb, Why is Venice Sinking, several books of poetry, and screenplays for movies from the former Yugoslavia, such as When Father Was Away on Business and Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, directed by Emir Kusturica, and Kuduz, directed by Ademir Kenović.