Mehmed ‘Šakir’ Kurtćehajić

Considered to be the first Bosniak journalist. He was born in Bijelo Polje, in the family of Mehmed Kurtćehajić, who served as a kadi in several Bosnian towns. He served first as a clerk at the headquarters of the Pljevlja kadiluk , then at the court of the Novi Pazar Sandzak , and then he was transferred to Sarajevo , to the vilayet service. In 1866, he began writing in the newspaper "Bosanski vjesnik", and then started the newspaper Sarajevski cvjetnik , which was published weekly, on four pages, bilingually, with a comparative text in Arabic in Turkish and Cyrillic. In 1869, he was appointed director of the Vilayet Printing House in Sarajevo. He died of tuberculosis at the mere age of 27, leaving behind a legacy of excellence and paving the way for modern journalism as a profession.