Spomenik Database | Profile for Jovan Kratohvil (Јована Кратохвила)

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Jovan Kratohvil

(YO-vahn KRA-toh-vil)

Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia

Heritage: Serbian

Date born: April 17th, 1924

Date deceased: February 27th, 1998

Education: Univ. of Arts, Belgr. (grad. 1949)

(Јован Кратохвил)

Biography

Born in Belgrade in 1924, Jovan Kratohvil excelled in life both as a renowned Serbian sculptor, but also as an Olympic athlete. In his youth, Kratohvil vigorously trained as an athlete in swimming, archery and shooting, competing in local events across Serbia. However, his efforts in this direction were halted during World War II. After the war, he was inspired to go into sculpting as a profession, and began classes at the University of Arts in Belgrade. He graduated in 1949, after which he began apprenticeships with various artists. However, his pursuits as a sculptor did not stop him from his athletics. In 1952, he competed at the Helskini Summer Olympics in the 300m Rifle event representing Yugoslavia. He never competed in the Olympics again after Helsinki, focusing the rest of his life on sculpting. Over the next few decades, he built up a reputation as one of the prominent modernist sculptors in Serbia, focusing on clearly defined forms and combining various textures and materials into innovative shapes and patterns. After the tragic plane crash of Soviet dignitaries into the side of Mount Avala in 1964, Kratohvil was commissioned to create a honorific memorial to commemorate the victims of the tragedy. This memorial is one of Kratohvil's most recognized works, along with his works at Majevica, Zemun and Sansepolcro, Italy. In 1971, he became a professor at his former school, University of Arts in Belgrade. While teaching here, he mentored Milorad Tepavac, who would later go on to design the 'Star' spomenik at Požarevac in 1985. Kratohvil held this position only for a few years, retiring shortly thereafter. In 1998, Kratohvil passed away in Belgrade at the age of 73.

Works by this Designer:

This is a listing of a number of memorials, monuments, cultural centers and other notable Yugoslav-era civic works by Jovan Kratohvil. Those sites listed in the upper part of this section have profile pages, while those listed in the lower part do not yet have completed profile pages. This list is not exhaustive and will be added to over time.

Yugoslav Works with profile pages:

Click photos to go to page

Avala, SRB