Katarina A. Jovanović (8 April 1869 – 31 May 1954) was a Serbian translator, literary historian, publicist, philosopher, journalist and humanitarian. She translated into German

Petar II Petrović Njegoš Petar ( sr, Петар, bg, Петър) is a South Slavic masculine given name, their variant of the Biblical name Petros cognate to Peter. Derivative forms include Pero, Pejo, Pera, Perica, Petrica, Periša. Feminine equivalent is Petra. ...

's masterpiece "Mountain Wreath" (''Gorski Vijenac'').

Biography

Katarina A. Jovanović was born in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, 8 April 1869. She spent most of her life abroad, having lived only 16 years in Serbia. Never forgetting her homeland, Katarina started her humanitarian work during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

. Thanks to her work, the Swiss Red Cross sent its mission and hospital in 1914, when the

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 ...

broke out. She participated in the founding of the Department for Serbian Soldiers at the Swiss Red Cross and the "Zurich Bureau for the Location of Missing Persons", which was re-established during the

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 ...

. She helped locate the missing, and organized distribution of humanitarian aid for the sick, wounded and imprisoned Serbian soldiers, their families and the families of the soldiers fighting at the Salonika front. Jovanović also helped Serbian schoolchildren and students, orphans and all those who found themselves far away from their homeland. Her kindness earned her the nickname “Little Mother” (Mamica). She died in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

on 31 May 1954.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanovic, Katarina 1869 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Serbian philosophers Writers from Belgrade Serbian translators Serbian literary historians Public relations people Serbian women philosophers Journalists from Belgrade 20th-century Serbian women writers Serbian women in World War I Serbian women historians Women literary historians People from the Kingdom of Serbia Serbian writers