Semka Sokolović-Bertok (22 December 1935 – 4 March 2008) was a Bosnian and Croatian actress. She also was a competitive

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player in her youth, winning the Croatian Chess Juniors Championship eight times.

Personal life

Semka was a descendant of an influential

Sokolović family In the Ottoman period, in the 16th century, there was an influential Sokolović family in the Sanjak of Bosnia that had two branches, one that was Eastern Orthodox Christian and was dominant in the Serbian Orthodox Church, while the other became Isl ...

. She was born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. Her mother Abida was a seamstress. Sokolović's older sister Badema (1929–1969) was a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

singer. She was married to chess International Master Mario Bertok In March 2008, Sokolović's son Mario Bertok announced her death from

internal bleeding Internal bleeding (also called internal haemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body, and is not usually visible from the outside. It can be a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depends on b ...

following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. She was 72.

Career

In addition to her work at a theatre 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 ...

, she appeared in numerous film roles. She made her film debut in 1956. Among others, she performed in the 1967 TV film ''Kineski zid'' (an adaptation of the

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity (social science), identity, individuality, Moral responsibility, responsibility, morality, and political commi ...

's play ''Die Chinesische Mauer''). She also had a supporting role in ''La Corta delle bambole notte di vetro'' (1971, directed by

Aldo Lado Aldo Lado (5 December 1934 – 25 November 2023) was an Italian film and television director, screenwriter and author. He was known internationally for his contributions to the giallo genre during the 1970s, through his films ''Short Night of Gl ...

), starring

Ingrid Thulin Ingrid Lilian Thulin (; 27 January 1926 – 7 January 2004) was a Swedish actress and director who collaborated with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She was often cast as harrowing and desperate characters, and earned acclaim from both Swedish and in ...

and

Mario Adorf Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...

. In the TV movie ''Roko i Cicibela'' (1978, directed by Stipe Delić), she played the female lead role. Sokolović-Bertok also starred as a high school headmistress in the

satirical film Satire is a television and film film genre, genre in the fictional, mockumentary, pseudo-fictional, or biographical film, semi-fictional category that employs satire, satirical techniques. Definition and description Film or television satire may ...

''Majstori, majstori!'' (1980, directed by Goran Marković). Her last film was ''Traktor, ljubezen in Rock'n'Roll'' (2008, directed by

Branko Đurić Branko Đurić (; born 28 May 1962), also known by his nickname Đuro (Cyrillic: Ђуро), is a Bosnian actor, comedian, film director and musician, who lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Born and raised in Sarajevo, Đurić rose to prom ...

). Her final film roles were in 2004's '' Days and Hours'', directed by

Pjer Žalica Pjer Žalica (born 7 May 1964) is a Bosnians, Bosnian film director, screenwriter and a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. His father Miodrag (1926–1992) was a noted dramaturgist and poet who scripted several TV movies. H ...

, and the 2006 film '' Grbavica'', directed by

Jasmila Žbanić Jasmila Žbanić (; born 19 December 1974) is a Bosnian film director, screenwriter and producer. She has received numerous accolades, including nominations for the Academy Awards, Academy Award and two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Awards. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokolovic-Bertok, Semka 1935 births 2008 deaths Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosniaks of Croatia 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina actresses Bosnia and Herzegovina chess players Croatian chess players Yugoslav female chess players Yugoslav chess players Actresses from Sarajevo 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina actresses 21st-century Croatian actresses Bosnia and Herzegovina film actresses Bosnia and Herzegovina stage actresses Croatian film actresses Croatian stage actresses Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery