Dositej Obradovic was the chief representative of the Serbian and South Slavic Age of Enlightenment. His work was of crucial importance for the emergence of modern Serbian literature and culture as well as for the formation of the Serbian national consciousness. In his two-part autobiography, Dositej left valuable information on his life and his work.

Dimitrije Obradovic was born around 1740 in the village of Cakovo, near the present-day Romanian city of Timisoara. His father Djuradj Obradovic, a furrier and a merchant, died when Dimitrije was young. Left as a widow with four small children, his mother, Kruna Paunkic, returned with her children to her family in the nearby village of Semarton. She died when Dimitrije was nine or ten years old, leaving him and his two brothers and one sister as orphans. Dimitrije and his brothers went back to Cakovo to live with an uncle. Later Dimitrije joined...