Marija Ilić Agapova (14 August 1895 – 13 March 1984) was a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n jurist, translator, librarian, civil rights activist and the first director of the Belgrade City Library.

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 (Croatia), Zagora, 12 kilometers from Knin, on the state road ...

near

Knin Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...

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 ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

(1908-1913). She graduated from a real gymnasium and started attending Law school in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in 1918. She received her Ph.D. from the Law school at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

in 1923. She received a Middle-European Ph.D. just like

Ivo Andrić Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...

and other intellectuals of that time who studied in

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. She began practicing law in 1926. She was also engaged in

librarianship Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with inf ...

and

museology Museology (also called museum studies or museum science) 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 ed ...

in 1929 as a correspondent of the County Library in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and participated in the founding of the Belgrade City Museum 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 ...

. 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, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

(1941-1944), and was retired in 1947. After the retirement, she translated and taught

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. 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 The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's ...

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 Serbian translators