author

Woislav M. Petrovitch

1884–1934

A Serbian writer, translator, and diplomat in London, he introduced English-language readers to Serbia through history, language, and folk tradition. His best-known work gathers heroic legends into a vivid, accessible collection that helped carry Serbian storytelling beyond the Balkans.

2 Audiobooks

Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians

Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians

by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Woislav M. Petrovitch

Heldensagen en Legenden van de Serviërs

Heldensagen en Legenden van de Serviërs

by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Woislav M. Petrovitch

About the author

Woislav M. Petrovitch was a Serbian author and translator active in the early 20th century. Sources identify him as an attaché to the Serbian Royal Legation to the Court of St. James, linking his writing closely with his work representing Serbia abroad.

He is best known for Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, a collection of Serbian legends and heroic stories published in 1915. Records also credit him with Serbia: Her People, History and Aspirations and Key to the Serbian Conversation Grammar, showing a wider effort to explain Serbian culture, history, and language to English-speaking readers.

The dates attached to library and archive records usually place his life around 1885 to 1934, though some catalogs appear slightly uncertain about his birth year. Even with that uncertainty, his surviving books make his role clear: he was one of the voices who presented Serbian national life and folklore to an international audience during a turbulent moment in European history.