Jovan Sterija Popovic (1806-1856) is considered as the founding father of Serbian drama and one of the best comedians. He was a writer whose work has exceeded the limits of literary epoch he wrote in. These are sentimentalism and romanticism. Until 1830, when he was still young, he wrote historical drama and tragedy. Among them are: “Svetislav i Mileva,”Boj na Kosovu”, “Milos Obilic”, “Smrt Stefana Dečanskog,”Hajduci” and other works. His true talent can be seen in the comedies he wrote: “Kir Janja,”Tvrdica,”Pokondirena Tikva”, “Zla žena”, “Pomirenje”.
He made fun of snobbery, vanity, fad and false patriotism. Sculpture of Jovan Popovic Sterija in Novi Sad is located in front of the Serbian National Theatre in the Square Pozorišni trg. It is the work of the Zagreb sculptor Mary Uljevic. The figure is made of bronze, 230cm high, on a stone pedestal. It was unveiled to the public in 1981.
