Mahatma Gandi

Dušan Aleksić (1905, Kljakovica near Nikšić – 1943, Sutjeska), a lawyer, publicist and writer, published this small booklet in the library of the Skerlić Publishing House in Belgrade. It is the second edition (the first was from 1931), printed in 1932. The booklet has only 16 pages and belongs to the type of popular-scientific or agitational brochures that were common in interwar Yugoslavia.

The work presents a brief biographical sketch and an overview of Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent resistance (satyagraha), ascetic lifestyle and political struggle against British colonial rule. Aleksić, as a young left-wing intellectual, presents Gandhi as a model of moral and political strength, a man who revolutionized the concept of the struggle for freedom precisely by rejecting violence. The text is written in an accessible, engaging style, intended for a wider audience - students, intellectuals and politically interested readers.

The style is typical for the nonfiction of that era: concise, rhetorically strong, with elements of idealization. It is not a deep scientific study, but an inspiring, agitating brochure that had an educational and political purpose. The author later participated in the NOB and died at Sutjeska in 1943.