Branko Radičević was born in Brod na Savi, in 1824. He finished high school in Sremski Karlovci, the setting of his best poems. He studied in Vienna. In 1847 his first book of poetry appeared, announcing a new era in Serbian poetry. He went to Serbia but soon returned to Vienna to study medicine. His second collection of poetry was weaker than the first. His awareness of his impending death from tuberculosis, in his twenty-ninth year, is manifested in Kad mlidijah umreti (When I Thought of Dying).
In his poetry Branko gave expression to simple emotions such as joy on a sunny morning or in a fishing boat, pleasure derived from flowers, the exuberance of school youth, patriotic fervor, and love's joys and sorrows. His youthful zeal is also expressed in unabashed eroticism and in the exultation of wine, women, and song. More importantly, he was the first to write poetry in the simple language of the common people. He attempted to recreate the rhythm of the folk song, thus supporting the belief of Karadzic that even poetry can be written in the language of peasants and shepherds.
Among his best poems are: Djački Rastanak (The Parting of School-friends), Put (A Journey), Tuga i Opomena (Sadness and Warning), and Kad Mlidijah Umreti.