Portrait of Laza Kostić

Laza Kostić

Serbian writer and politician

Lived
1841–1910
Country
Austrian Empire
Also writes as
Laza

Updated September 2026

About Laza Kostić

Lazar Kostić was a Serbian poet, prose writer, lawyer, aesthetician, journalist, publicist, and politician. He is considered to be one of the greatest minds of Serbian literature. Kostić wrote around 150 lyrics, 20 epic poems, three dramas, one monograph, several essays, short stories, and a number of articles. Kostić promoted the study of English literature and together with Jovan Andrejević-Joles was one of the first to begin the systematic translation of the works of William Shakespeare into the Serbian language. Kostić also wrote an introduction of Shakespeare's works to Serbian culture.

Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.