Marija Ilić Agapova (14 August 1895 – 13 March 1984) was a Serbian jurist, translator, librarian, civil rights activist and the first director of the

Belgrade City Library Belgrade City Library ('' sr, Библиотека града Београда (BGB)'') is a public library in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a parent library for more than a dozen municipal libraries and their branches. It is also the la ...

Biography

Marija Ilić Agapova was born in the village

Pađene Pađene ( sr-Cyrl, Пађене) is a village in the Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. The settlement is administered as a part of Ervenik municipality. Location It is located in Zagora, 12 kilometers from Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, ...

near Knin in 1895. She was one of the first educated Serbian women in the region. She attended the Institute of empress Maria at Montenegrin court in

Cetinje Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...

in Russian (1908-1913). She graduated from a real gymnasium and started attending Law school in Zagreb in 1918. She received her Ph.D. from the Law school at the University of Zagreb in 1923. She received a Middle-European Ph.D. just like Ivo Andrić and other intellectuals of that time who studied in

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, Germany and Italy. She began practicing law in 1926. She was also engaged in librarianship and

museology Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...

in 1929 as a correspondent of the County Library 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 ...

and participated in the founding of the

Belgrade City Museum The Belgrade City Museum ( sr-cyr, Музеј Града Београда) is a museum located in Belgrade, Serbia. Founded in 1903, the museum operates with several cultural institutions: Ivo Andrić Museum, Princess Ljubica's Residence, Paja J ...

and organized try-outs for the new

Coat of arms of Belgrade The coat of arms of Belgrade is the official symbol of the City of Belgrade and is stable in three levels - as Basic or Small, Medium and Large. The history of heraldic representation of Belgrade is long and goes back to the time when the city f ...

. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Belgrade's liberation from the Turks, she wrote a collection of stories for children about the town's history, and from her efforts, the "Illustrated History of Belgrade" came to exist. She governed the Library from 1932, and also the City Museum from 1941. She organized collecting of the materials that served as a basis for the founding of the Belgrade Historical Archive. Immediately after the Belgrade liberation she was fired because she kept working and governing the cultural institutions of the city during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

(1941-1944), and was retired in 1947. After the retirement, she translated and taught Russian and Italian. She continued translating Russian and Italian and worked part-time as a foreign languages professor in the College of Diplomatic and Journalistic Vocational Studies, and also taught courses of archivists. She was a member of the Association of Serbian Literary Translators and a Women's movement activist. She wrote many works regarding women's rights. She was honoured with a plaque from the City Museum in Belgrade in 1965. She died in 1984. in Belgrade.

Marija Ilić Agapova Award

Marija Ilić Agapova Award was established in 2001. and named after the first director of the Belgrade City Library. Belgrade City Library grants this award to the best librarian of Belgrade each year on January 11, The Belgrade City Library Day.

External links

* Dereta : Marija Ilić Agapova
Tromeđa : Marija Ilić Agapova

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agapova, Marija Ilić 1895 births 1984 deaths People from Knin Serbs of Croatia Serbian translators Serbian jurists 20th-century translators