Danica Obrenić

Danica Obrenić was a Serbian folk singer, born in Mladenovac on 21 October 1920. Her father, Miloš Jovanović, was a railway worker from Niš. She went to school in Mladenovac and Smederevska Palanka and moved to Belgrade just before the Second World War, where during the war she studied solo singing at the Stanković music school with Žarko Cvejić; her final exam included an aria from Verdi's Rigoletto.

In 1948 she joined the Radio Beograd choir as a soloist, and in 1955 she became one of the first five singers permanently employed by Radio Beograd, together with Anđelija Milić, Zorka Butaš, Radmila Dinić and Ljubivoje Vidosavljević. Her repertoire was the songs of southern Serbia and Vranje, Macedonian songs and old Belgrade starogradske songs. The radio archive holds 133 of her recordings of 111 songs, from "Da znaješ, mori mome" with the Radio Beograd folk orchestra under Vlastimir Pavlović Carevac to "Sedela Magda na čardaku" in November 1974.

She made more than forty records with other folk and starogradska singers and one solo LP, released by PGP RTS in 1976. Among her best-known songs are "Magla padnala v dolina", "Lastavice, lasto", "Gde si dušo, gde si rano" and "Moj dilbere, kud se šećeš". She won the professional jury's first prize at Beogradsko proleće in 1969 and at the 10th Beogradski sabor in 1972, as well as Radio Beograd's Golden Microphone and the Order of Labour with Silver Wreath, and she sang in the 1950 film Čudotvorni mač.

Danica Obrenić died in Belgrade on 30 October 2004 and was buried at the New Cemetery. A few of her recordings are gathered here.