Jovan Soldatović (November 26, 1920 in Čerević – October 7, 2005 in Novi Sad) was a Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor, internationally recognized for hundreds of sculptures and memorials.
[1] He was one of the most prominent modern Serbian sculptors, a leading artistic personality in contemporary Novi Sad and a member of the Prostor 8 art group from Belgrade.
In 1940 he finished to Officer´s School in Maribor and starts his studies in the architecture department in the Technical Faculty of the University of Belgrade.
With the start of World War II in Yugoslavia he would stop his studies in Belgrade and move back to Novi Sad.
Both of his wives would tragically lose their lives in 1999 (Mirjana in June due to a car accident, Mila in August from natural causes).
On 9 November 1949, he would start working at Toma Rosandić workshop in Belgrade along with Ana Bešlić, Olga Jančić, Sava Sandić, Ante Gržetić and Ratimir Stojadinović.
In the period of 1957 and 1958, Soldatovic was the main promoter of a sculpture exhibition in the free space of Group 8, at Tašmajdan Park in Belgrade and at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad.
Since then, sculptures of Soldatović, Aleksandar Zarin, Ana Bešlić and Ratimir Stojadinovic have been permanently placed at the fortress.
[2] During the NATO bombing of Novi Sad in the period of 24 March to 10 June 1999, Soldatović would regularly work in his workshop.
He would open up an exhibition at the ruins of the Varadin Bridge on 14 April, at the height of the intensive bombing of Novi Sad and Yugoslavia.
[2] In 2001, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Jovan Soldatović, a formal reception was held at the Assembly of Vojvodina by the then president Nenad Čanak.
Most of his works had an anti-war and humanitarian theme, with others depicting the natural world through animals such as deer, storks, cranes and horses.
The Streljani rodoljubi (Shot patriots) statues in Crna Ćuprija Memorial Park near Žabalj were done to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the Šajkaš Partizan regiment.
That year the relay would start its journey from Vojvodina, from Iriški Venac and was given to Josip Broz Tito for his 80th birthday.
The Statue of Milan Konjović was placed in front of the Gallery of Matica Srpska for its reopening after extensive restoration period.
In 1968, Soldatovic's sculpture Family would appear as the motif of a stamp issued by the Post Office of Yugoslavia on the occasion of the Year of Human Rights, which was indicated by the official sign of the jubilee.
Only 23 statues were able to be found while the 38 remaining sculptures were ether destroyed or sold on the black market to private auctions, galleries and collections.