Paulina Lebl-Albala (; August 9, 1891 – October 8, 1967) was a Serbian

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, translator, literary critic, literature theoretician, and professor of literature 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 ...

. A co-founder of the ''Udruženje univerzitetski obrazovanih žena'' (UUOZ; Association of University-Educated Women; 1927), she also served as the organization's president.

Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight Dame Rosie Gojich Stephenson-Goodknight (born December 5, 1953), known on Wikipedia as Rosiestep, is an American Wikipedia editor who is noted for her attempts to address gender bias in the encyclopedia by running a project to increase the quant ...

is her granddaughter.

Early years and education

Paulina Lebl (sometimes spelled Lebel) was born in

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 ...

She was the youngest child in the family of Simon Lébl, an engineer in the French company which raised the railway in Serbia. Her mother was Natalie and there were three sisters, Hermina, Jelena, and Ruža. She grew up in the city's

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

community. She finished elementary and middle school in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

, with third and fourth year at the Girls' College (1904–06). Between 1906–09, she attended and graduated from the First Women's Gymnasium, studying under

Jovan Skerlić Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as on ...

Pavle Popović Pavle Popović ( sr-cyr, Павле Поповић; 16 April 1868 – 4 June 1939) was a Serbian literary critic and historian, a professor and rector at the University of Belgrade. He is the brother of Bogdan Popović, also a well-known and equa ...

(1868–1939), and

Bogdan Popović Bogdan Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Богдан Поповић; 20 December 1863 – 7 November 1944) was one of the most important literary critics and university professors in Serbia and later Yugoslavia and an academic. He was the brother of ...

in the Faculty of Philosophy, classics department, where she participated in the literary club "Nada".

Career

Her published translations of ''Glanz'' and ''Allegro furiozo'' by

Ida Boy-Ed Ida Boy-Ed (17 April 1852 – 13 May 1928) was a German writer. A supporter of women's issues, she wrote widely-read books and newspaper articles. Early years Ida Cornelia Ernestina Ed was born in Bergedorf in 1852 to a supportive family who e ...

appeared in ''

Politika ''Politika'' ( sr-Cyrl, Политика; ''Politics'') is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and owners ...

'' in 1906 and 1907 and were the first translations of Boy-Ed's work. The ''Prosvetni pregled'' (Education Review) No. 1, released "On reading", in 1909, for which she won an award. In the same year, she began studies in architecture in Belgrade, leaving after a semester. From 1909 through 1913, she studied Serbian and French literature at the Faculty of

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

. In 1909 and in 1912–14, she published translations of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

Ludwig Thoma Ludwig Thoma (; 21 January 1867 in Oberammergau – 26 August 1921 in Tegernsee) was a German author, publisher and editor, who gained popularity through his partially exaggerated description of everyday Bavarian life. After graduation from t ...

, Paul-Louis Hervier,

Maurice Barrès Auguste-Maurice Barrès (; 19 August 1862 – 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist and politician. Spending some time in Italy, he became a figure in French literature with the release of his work ''The Cult of the Self'' in 1888. ...

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

, and

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

; during the same period, she published the original works of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, as well as literary and theater reviews. At the end of 1913, Lebl-Albala began teaching at the First Women's Gymnasium. From 1914 until 1918, Lebl-Albala published in the journals ''Odjek'' ("Response") (Nis), ''Književni jug'' ("Literary South") (

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, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

), and ''Moderna žena'' ("Modern Women") (Zagreb); she was in Switzerland 1917–18. Lebl-Albala was back in Belgrade in 1918–39. She became a professor in the Second Girls Gymnasium in 1920. She married

David Albala David Albala (born David Kovu; 1 September 1886 – 4 April 1942) was a Serbian military officer, physician, diplomat and Jewish community leader. In 1905, Albala enrolled at the University of Vienna to study medicine. He returned to Serbia ...

, a physician,

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

leader and president of Belgrade's

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

community on March 14 of that year at the Sephardic Synagogue. They had a daughter, Jelena Albala Gojić in 1925. A feminist, she became a member of the ''Drustvo za prosvećivanje žene i zaštitu njenih prava'' ("Society for Women's Enlightenment and Protection of their Rights") in 1925, she was also active in Zionist youth work. Other memberships included the Management Association of Professors and

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. She was the first president of the Association of University-Educated Women, and served in that role for eight years. A literature theoretician, from 1919 through 1939, Lebl-Albala wrote essays, literary discussions, criticism, reviews, stories, travel articles about women and youth, translations and other contributions which were published in newspapers and journals; some of these were, ''Revue Yougoslave'', ''Misao'', ''Ženski pokret'', ''Prosvetni glasnik'', ''SKG'', ''Prilozi'', ''LMS'', ''Strani pregled'', ''Politika'', ''Javnost'', ''Književni jug'', ''Glasnik jugoslovenskog ženskog saveza'', ''Beogradske opštinske novine'', ''Južni pregled'', ''Krug'', ''Naša stvarnost'', ''Život i rad'', ''Žena danas'', and ''Vidici''. She wrote discussions and reviews of the works of

Dositej Obradović Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...

, Njegoš,

Ljubomir Nenadović Ljubomir Nenadović (14 September 1826 — 21 January 1895) was Serbian writer, poet, translator, diplomat, minister of education and member of the Serbian Royal Academy. Family Ljubomir was born in Brankovina, Valjevo, Principality of Serbia ...

Borisav Stanković ) , honorific_prefix = , honorific_suffix = , image =Bora Stanković.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Stanković's statue in Vranje , native_name = , native_name_lang = sr , pseudonym = , birth_name = Борисав Стан� ...

Branislav Nušić Branislav Nušić ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Нушић, ; – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant. Life Bra ...

Jovan Sterija Popović Jovan Sterija Popović (; sr-cyr, Јован Стерија Поповић; 13 January 1806 – 10 March 1856) was a Serbian playwright, poet, lawyer, philosopher and pedagogue who taught at the Belgrade Higher School. Sterija was recognized by ...

Jovan Dučić Jovan Dučić ( sr-cyr, Јован Дучић, ; 17 February 1871 – 7 April 1943) was a Herzegovinian Serb poet-diplomat and academic. He is one of the most influential Serbian lyricists and modernist poets. Dučić published his first collec ...

Stanislav Vinaver Stanislav Vinaver ( sr-Cyrl, Станислав Винавер; 1 March 1891 – 1 August 1955) was a Serbian writer, poet, translator and journalist. Vinaver was born to affluent Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish parents that had immigrated to Se ...

, as well as Heine, Hugo,

Herman Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', '' Steppenwolf'', '' Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', each of which explores an individual's ...

, A. Smedlej, and

Germaine de Staël Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein (; ; 22 April 176614 July 1817), commonly known as Madame de Staël (), was a French woman of letters and political theorist, the daughter of banker and French finance minister Jacques Necker and Suzan ...

. Her work appeared in a number of publications, including

's, ''Odabrane strane'' (1926), Božidar Knežević's, ''Misli'' (1931), Bulletin of the Association of University-Educated Women (1931-1935), ''L'Oeuvre litteraire des femmes yougoslaves'' (1936), in which he wrote the preface and introduction of individual chapters, as well as ''Monahinja Jefimija'' (1936). In 1937, she became the editor of ''Glasnik Jugoslovenskog ženskog saveza'' ("Bulletin of the

Yugoslav Women's Alliance Yugoslav Women's Alliance ( sh, Jugoslavenski Ženski Savez) was a Yugoslavian organisation for women's rights, founded in 1919 and abolished in 1961. It was originally named but changed name in 1929. It was an umbrella organization of the Femi ...

"). In 1940, she moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, joining her husband at the Yugoslav Embassy. She wrote for the ''Yugoslav News Bulletin'' (Yugoslav Information Center, New York City, 1942) and in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

newspapers (1941, 1944–45). After her husband's death in 1942, Lebl-Albala and her daughter settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Lebl-Albala returned to Belgrade in 1945, and was mentioned in the 1947 edition of the ''Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature'' in the section on Serbian writers. She did translation work for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

during this time. In 1947, she made

Aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

with the first group of emigrants for Israel, after which, she visited Rome (1951–53) and

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

, Canada (1955), before emigrating to the US where she lived with her daughter in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She died there in 1967. She is mentioned in ''

Encyclopaedia Hebraica The ''Encyclopaedia Hebraica'' ( he, האנציקלופדיה העברית) is a comprehensive encyclopedia in the Hebrew language that was published in the latter half of the 20th century.ha-Entsiklopediyah ha-ʻivrit (האנציקלופדיה ...

'', ''Jewish Almanac'', and the ''Bulletin of the Association of Yugoslav Jews in the United States''. Published in 2005, ''Tako je nekad bilo'' ("That's how it once was") is a compilation book of Lebl-Albala's memories.

Selected works

* 1930, ''Razvoj universitetskog obrazovanja naših žena'' * 1923; 1930, ''Teorija književnosti i analiza pismenih sastava za srednje i stručne škole'' (with Katarina Bogdanović) * 1932, ''Gertruda'' * 1939, ''Deset godina rada Udruženja univerzitetski obrazovanih žena u Jugoslaviji: 1928-1938'' * 1943, ''Yugoslav women fight for freedom'' * 1943, ''Dr. Albala as a Jewish National Worker'' * 1951, ''Izabrana proza'' * 2005, ''Tako je nekad bilo'' (posthumous publication)

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebl-Albala, Paulina 1891 births 1967 deaths University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology alumni European Ashkenazi Jews Serbian Jews Serbian translators Serbian literary critics Women literary critics Literary critics of Serbian Serbian schoolteachers Journalists from Belgrade Serbian feminists Jewish feminists Literary theorists Writers from Belgrade 20th-century translators 20th-century women writers 20th-century Serbian educators 20th-century Serbian women writers 20th-century journalists Organization founders Women founders Yugoslav emigrants to the United States