Zekerijah Đezić

Zekerijah Đezić was a sevdalinka and folk singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also a radio announcer and presenter. He was born on 14 November 1937 in Janja. In 1964 he became the first citizen of Tuzla whose voice was put on a gramophone record, with "Tuzlanka se Sarajkama hvali", the first newly composed Tuzla sevdalinka.

His records came out on Jugoton, Diskos, Beograd Disk, RTV Sarajevo and PGP RTB. The first EP, Razbolje se care Sulejmane, appeared on Jugoton in 1964, followed by "Razbolje se šimšir list" with the national orchestra of Žarko Milanović and "Bosno moja lijepih planina" (1966), "Splavar sa Drine" (1967), "Među nama svršeno je sve" (1968), "Zumbul zvono" (1969), "Ne plači jedina" with the ensemble of Spaso Berak (1970), "Puknite strune" (1971), "Volimo se svi" and "Od Sarajki ljepših žena nema" (1972) and "Druže stari" (1973). His album Dođi, pjesmo moja followed in 1974.

Festivals marked his career. He sang "Behar pade" at the Beogradski sabor in 1966, and in 1968 he won the first prize, the audience award, at the Ilidža festival with "Ti pripadaš drugom". He came back to Ilidža with "Zašto me ostavljaš" (1970), "Od Sarajki ljepših žena nema" (1972), "Sarajevo grad" (1982) and "Gondže ružo" (1988), sang "Druže stari" and "Dođi pjesmo moja" at the Beogradski sabor in 1972 and 1973, and "Ko li mi te muti ljepotice" at Vogošća in 1990. He also wrote: the reissued recordings credit him with the music of "Udadoše moju Fatu" and the words and music of "Golube moj" and "Rasplešću ti ruse kose".

Zekerijah Đezić died after a serious illness on 17 October 2002 in Sarajevo and was buried at Alifakovac two days later. In 2003 he was given the Davorin award posthumously for his work for the original music of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The playlist holds fourteen of his songs, reissued by Jugodisk.