Mitra Mitrović ( sr, Митра Митровић; 6 September 1912 – 4 April 2001) was a

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 politician, feminist and writer.

Biography

The daughter of a railway official, she was born in Požega. Her father died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

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 ...

and her mother was left to raise the five children. With the help of a scholarship, Mitrović was able to study at the

University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy The University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy ( sr, Филозофски факултет Универзитета у Београду), established in 1838 within the Belgrade Higher School, is the oldest Faculty at the University of Belgrade ...

, earning a degree in

Serbo-Croatian language Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

and literature in 1934. In 1933, she joined the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

. She was arrested several times and, as an anti-fascist, was imprisoned following the

German occupation of Serbia During World War II, several provinces of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia corresponding to the modern-day state of Serbia were occupied by the Axis Powers from 1941 to 1944. Most of the area was occupied by the Wehrmacht and was organized as separate t ...

but managed to escape. She was a delegate to the

Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia,, mk, Антифашистичко собрание за народно ослободување на Југославија commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberat ...

(AVNOJ). She was an editor of '' Borba'', the Communist Party newspaper. She was a founding member of the Antifascist front of women (AFŽ) and served on its central committee. She helped found the feminist newspaper ''Žena danas'' ("Woman today"). She served as a member of the Serbian

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

and of the federal assembly for the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. Mitrović was Minister of Education in the government of the

People's Republic of Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

. Later, she served as president of the Council for Education and Culture. She married

Milovan Đilas Milovan Djilas (; , ; 12 June 1911 – 30 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well as in the post-war government. A self-identified democrat ...

in 1936; the couple divorced in 1952. Even though she was no longer married to Đilas, when he fell out of favor, she was removed from all her political posts in January 1954. She published a memoir ''Ratno putovanje'' as well as books in support of women's rights: ''Pravo glasa žena dokaz i oruđe demokratije'' and ''Položaj žene u savremenom svetu''. Mitrović died 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 ...

at the age of 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitrovic, Mitra 1912 births 2001 deaths Serbian communists Yugoslav communists Yugoslav women in politics Serbian writers Serbian women writers Serbian feminists Socialist feminists Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia members