Divna Veković (''or Vékovitch)'' (1886–1944) was the first female medical doctor in

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. She was born in Lužac, a village in the municipality of Berane. She completed her medical degree at the Sorbonne in 1907. She was a physician at the Salonika front during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Veković was also a

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

and a literary translator. She was the first to translate ''

The Mountain Wreath ''The Mountain Wreath'' ( sr, Горски вијенац / Gorski vijenac) is a poem and a play written by Prince-Bishop and poet Petar II Petrović-Njegoš. Njegoš wrote ''The Mountain Wreath'' during 1846 in Cetinje and published it the foll ...

'' (''Gorski Viyénatz'') from the

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...

into the French language (''Les lauriers de la montagne''). The work is a well-known epic poem in

Montenegrin literature Montenegrin literature may refer to: * Literature of Montenegro, the entire (historical and modern) corpus of literature created on the territory covered by modern Montenegro, written in various languages of the region (Medieval Latin, Italian, Ro ...

written by

Petar II Petrović-Njegoš Petar II Petrović-Njegoš ( sr-cyrl, Петар II Петровић-Његош, ; – ), commonly referred to simply as Njegoš (), was a Prince-Bishop (''vladika'') of Montenegro, poet and philosopher whose works are widely considered ...

. Veković also translated other poems such as that of the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj. She continued her work as a medical doctor until her death before the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

1886 births 1944 deaths Montenegrin physicians Montenegrin women physicians 20th-century translators Montenegrin writers 20th-century women writers {{Montenegro-stub People from Berane University of Paris alumni Expatriates from the Principality of Montenegro in France