Popović is undoubtedly one of the most significant figures of Serbian literature. With good reason he has been given the name "the father of Serbian drama". Following the example of the great French and German tragedians, he described events from the history of the Serbian people. The Belgrade theatre Theater on Đumruk opened with his tragedy Smrt Stefana Dečanskog in 1841. The first Sterija's tragedy Svetislav i Mileva is worth mentioning, then Miloš Obilić ili Padnuće serbskog carstva, Nesrećno supružestvo ili Naod Simeon, Skenderbeg and Lahan. Miošić's poems about Skanderbeg from his most important work A Pleasant Discourse of the Slavic People were basis for Život i viteška voevanja slavnog kneza epirskog Đorđa Kastriota Skenderbega written by Sterija Popović in 1828. Sterija showed a real artistic value as the writer of comedies. His comedian talent has created strong and great literary works, which are even greater because it was, in fact, Sterija who paved the way to the Serbian comedy in general. The first period of Sterija's writing of comedies falls on the time of his life in Vršac, between 1830 and 1840. Sterija eternalized his home-town with the characters of Kir Janja, Fema Ružić and others. His comedies Laža i Paralaža (1830), Pokondirena tikva (1830), Tvrdica (1837) and Zla žena (1838), have brought him the appreciation of his contemporaries and the reputation of being "Serbian Molière". In 1841, 1842 and 1847 some less important Sterija's comedies were also performed: Ženidba i udadba, Simpatije i antipatije, Volšebni magarac, Džandrljiv muž, Sudbina jednog razuma, and Prevara za prevaru. His comedy Beograd nekad i sad which describes the environment of 19th century Belgrade was published in 1853. The last comedy Sterija wrote was the satire Rodoljupci. He did not print this important comedy at all, so it remained in manuscript long after his death. Sterija found the inspiration for this comedy in the revolutionary events of 1848–1849. Poetry A dominant theme in Sterija's poetry is his criticism of the discrepancy between what was being proclaimed and people's actual behavior. In his poem Godine 1848 (Year 1848) the focus is the betrayal of the ideals of the American Revolution—legal slavery in the supposed ``land of the free; in Izobraženiku (To an Enlightened One), the hypocrisy of those who condemn the Ottoman Empire as barbaric, while themselves engaging in conquest and the slave trade. Legacy Sterija was recognized by his contemporaries as the one