Stevan Vladislav Kaćanski - "Stari Bard" (Srbobran, Austrian Empire, 19 December 1828 - Belgrade, Kingdom of Serbia, 4 May 1890) was a popular Serbian poet of the second half of the 19th century at the most turbulent time in Europe during the Revolutions of 1848 in general and the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire in particular[1] Most of his poems were inspired by the poetic dream of Serbian liberation and unification. Today he is considered Serbia's national poet,[2] who was one of the key figures of the Serb Revolution of 1848. He is best known as the author of Noćnica, which is said to have inspired the Serbs to seek independence from the Kingdom of Hungary though within the territories of the Austrian Empire.
Stevan Vladislav Kaćanski was born into a respectable family,[3] in Srbobran, in Bačka. His parents were Trifon and Julijana, inhabitants of Srbobran.[4] The family got its surname from the village of Kać, from where they moved at the end of the 18th century. Originally from Herzegovina, their last name was Vladisavljević, which is why Kaćanski always put it in front of his last name, or signed it only as Vladislav.[5] [6]