- Town: Nikšic
- Category : Monuments in public space
- TAG :
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- GPS location: 42.77356500577102
18.948590578772134 - Show on map:
Descrption:
It is rare that a part of the world is known for a photo. Recordings rarer deserve to become a symbol of one space or an idea. Photos showing one person so convincingly that they bear an entire story are the rarest. The most significant portrait that has such strength is a work by Alberto Diaz Korde – the man who took a photo of Ernesto Cheguevara with his Lajka M2.
Almost two decades before the most famous and most exploited photography in the history of that media was taken, a photo with a famous smile of the national hero Čedomir Ljubo Čupic had been taken in May 1942. Together with the photography of Stevan Filipović with spitefully raised fists underneath the gallows, it remains as one of special and authentic scenes from World War II in this area.
The sculptor Zlatko Glamočak built a monument to Ljubo Čupic in bronze according to this photography. “Hero in promenade” is its name. It is 2.20 m tall and 90cm wide and furnishes Freedom Square in Nikšić. It was unveiled in 2018, on July 13th, on a Sovereignty Day of Montenegro. Not long after, a bronze memorial plaque with a five pointed star with an inscription “Čedomir Ljubo Čupic (1913-1942), the national hero, shot on May 9th, 1942 in Nikšić, his smile after death sentence became a symbol of anti-fascism” was placed.
Italian officer Carlo Ravnich took three photos as the testimony of shooting of Ljubo Čupić on May 9th 1942. Two photos taken just before and after the execution are almost neglected due to the strength and magnificence of the first one. Namely, amateur photographer with a military was destined to record this precious historic moment, Ljubo Čupić who knew that he was about to be killed to which he answers with a defiant smile. Luckily, despite the control of negatives, Migo Zorić from Nikšić managed to save this photography. According to the saying “Ideas are resistant to bullets”, Čupić became a symbol.
This photography gains new layers and meanings every day. It is used in various purposes. Immortal smile surpassed being just a synonym of the resistance of communists in Nikšić. It has become much more, a symbol of resistance to fascism worldwide.