Mitra Mitrović (; 6 September 1912 – 4 April 2001) 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 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 exposu ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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, earning a degree in

Serbo-Croatian language Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutuall ...

and literature in 1934. In 1933, she joined the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

. She was arrested several times and, as an anti-fascist, was imprisoned following the German occupation of Serbia 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,; ; commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberative and legislative body that was established in Bihać, Yugoslavia, in November 1942. It was established by Josip Broz T ...

(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 repr ...

and of the federal assembly for the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. Mitrović was

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in the government of the People's Republic of Serbia. Later, she served as president of the Council for Education and Culture. She married

Milovan Đilas Milovan Djilas (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Милован Ђилас, Milovan Đilas, ; 12 June 1911 – 20 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 6th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Women's International Democratic Federation people