Kaletinac (Serbian: Калетинац) is a village situated in Gadžin Han municipality in Serbia.[1]

Kaletinac
Village
Kaletinac is located in Serbia
Kaletinac
Kaletinac
Coordinates: 43°09′11″N 22°09′35″E / 43.15306°N 22.15972°E / 43.15306; 22.15972
Country Serbia
MunicipalityGadžin Han
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

Memorial House of Dragutin Matić

edit
 
The iconic photo of Dragutin Matić

Kaletinac is the birthplace of Dragutin Matić (1888–1970), a famous Serbian infantry soldier from World War I. His image is widely recognizable in Serbia, from a photograph where he was a lookout of Austro-Hungarian positions. That photograph is often found in military albums, encyclopedias and museums.[2] The house was built by his father Peša, and mother Nevena Matić, shortly before his birth in 1888. The house never changed its appearance since.[3] Nicknamed Hawkeye, Matić was the youngest of 7 children, and grew up in the house.[4]

Matić lived in the house with his family, until he died in 1970.[3] In the mid-2000s the initiative was started for his birth house in Kaletinac to be adapted into the museum. The house was abandoned and derelict as all the descendants of the Matić family moved out and some emigrated abroad. In July 2018 it was announced that the house will be reconstructed and turned into the memorial home. Both living descendants waved their rights on the house and donated it to the municipality to turn it into the museum. Reconstruction is scheduled to start in the fall of 2018.[4]

The reconstruction was postponed and by 2021 the surveys showed that reconstruction was impossible. The roof completely collapsed, few remaining walls cracked with only the basement remaining intact. The ruins became decayed and prone to collapse. It was decided to demolish the ruins and to fully rebuild the house in authentic style of the ruined house, the typical style of the village, folk house from the 19th century. It will have the same appearance and will be made of the same materials, stone, wood and earth. Works began in June 2021. The finished house will be adapted into the heritage museum, which would also exhibit artifacts found during the demolition. The souvenir shop will be built next to the house.[5][6] The venue was opened on 24 June 2022,[7] as both the Memorial House of Dragutin Matić, and the Heritage Museum of Zaplanje.[3]

There is a modest memorial on the local cemetery, where Matić was buried.[6] Commemorating 100th anniversary of the war, Milovan Vitezović published a poem "All-seeing eye" about Matić in 2014, while sculptor Mirko Mrkić Ostroški sculptured a bronze relief of Matić, which was placed as a memorial plaque on the façade of the Military Club of Serbia.[8] A monument to Matić was erected in Gadžin Han, Kaletinac's municipal seat.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ Institut national d'études démographique (INED) Archived 2014-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Ivana Ercegovac; Saša Đ Ružesković; Marko Sredojević (2014). Самсон Чернов: творац симбола српског војника из Великог рата - фотографије "Око соколово" [Sampson Tchernoff: creator of symbol for Serbian soldiers in the Great War - photography "The Hawkeye" (summary in English)] (PDF). Faculty for culture and media Yearbook, No. 6 (in Serbian). pp. 75–100.
  3. ^ a b c d Toma Todorović (25 June 2022). Ратник Око Соколово дбио спомен-дом [Warrior Hawk Eye got a memorial home]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 07.
  4. ^ a b Toma Todorović (14 July 2018). "Родна кућа Драгутина Матића ипак спомен музеј" [Family home of Dragutin Matić will be a memorial museum after all]. Politika (in Serbian).
  5. ^ Toma Todorović (9 June 2021). Око соколово и Калетинац коначно на мапи света [Hawkeye and Kaletinac finally on world's map]. Politika (in Serbian).
  6. ^ a b Beta (10 June 2021). "Kuća solunskog ratnika Dragutina Matića se ne obnavlja – gradi se iznova" [House of the Salonica warrior Dragutin Matić will not be renovated - it will be built from scratch] (in Serbian). N1.
  7. ^ Ljubica Jocić (24 June 2022). "Obnovljena kuća "Oka sokolovog", legenda Zaplanja i Srbije živi u sećanju" [Hawkeye's house renovated - legend of Zaplanje and Serbia still lives in memory]. Južne vesti (in Serbian).
  8. ^ Mirko Mrkić Ostroški (7 July 2022). "Spomen na Oko Sokolovo" [Memory of Hawkeye]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 16.

43°09′11″N 22°09′35″E / 43.15306°N 22.15972°E / 43.15306; 22.15972