Bosnian poet, writer and screenwriter Abdullah Sidran died on Saturday evening, at the age of 80, N1 learned.

The legendary Bosnian writer was in a serious state of health for several months.

He edited youth newspapers and magazines, and lectured forums. Until April 1992, he was employed at RTV Sarajevo, as a “leading dramaturg”.

He appeared in literature in the 1960s, with poems and prose, in the generation of young writers often referred to as the '68’. He was awarded literary and social awards (April 6 Award of the City of Sarajevo, Annual Award of the Writers’ Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Annual Award of Svjetlost Publishing Company, Dragon Award) for his poetry books.

He even published during the war. The book of poetry ‘Sarajevo casket’ was awarded with the Freedom Prize of the PEN Center of France.

Selections from his poetry, translated into German, French, and Italian were published in Austria, France, and Italy (Insel bin ich, im Herzen der Welt, Cercueil de Sarajevo, La bara di Sarajevo). For the Italian, bilingual edition, he received the award ‘Premio Letterario 1996 della Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo’.

He was the screenwriter of the films Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, Father on a business trip, directed by Emir Kusturica, and Kuduz by Ademir Kenovic.

He was a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a master's candidate in chess.

Exactly one year ago, he was a guest on the N1 show Pressing, where he spoke about numerous current topics. Among other things, he sent a message to all the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying that the essence of his idea is that “we have missed a lot and that from tomorrow we must not miss any more, that everything that has been turned into a political problem, and has a legal essence, should be returned and placed it in the area of judiciary and lawmaking.”