Mira Jurić
The story of Mira Jurić is not just the story of a life dedicated to science, scientific discovery and progress, the founding of the institutions, and support for talent. It is also, along with all the above, a kind of litmus test for revealing the weaknesses of institutional memory in the states formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia – especially Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The closed nature of scientific communities, the weak interest in preserving institutional heritage, frequent historical changes, within which new political elites routinely erase and marginalize their predecessors, and, not least, the systemic and traditional suppression of women’s contributions to science – these are just some of the reasons why the name Mira Jurić evokes only mild association among experts and zero recognition among laypeople. Saying this is logical and understandable because Bosnia and Herzegovina is not exactly a scientific power is a rather lazy line of thought – all the more so considering that Mira Jurić built her career when the country of her birth was part of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia itself, of course, is not a scientific heavyweight either, but it was still relevant and important in the field of global science – far more so than any of its successor states today. Still, even then, like in any other country, it did not have an equal share of men and women in the natural sciences – although it must be admitted that it had progressed further down that path than some European democracies. It probably also tells us something about the profound degradation of the intellectual relationship to the world today – a degradation that does not merely mean that a layperson in the natural sciences is unable to grasp its discoveries, which is to be expected in a field of such complexity such as particle physics. No, this points to something else entirely – our inability to appreciate achievements that are not revolutionary and do not bring a paradigm shift, but represent a cumulative contribution to knowledge or, figuratively speaking, add a missing piece to the puzzle, thereby contributing to the further advancement of the discipline. Today’s media context cultivates a bias for flashy and groundbreaking discoveries, which are quite rare, leaving a lot of patient and arduous scientific work in the shadows. But the fact that, as a society, we are more interested in conspiracy theories than in scientific understanding of the world does not mean that the name of Mira Jurić – experimental physicist, researcher at the Vinča Institute, professor and head at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Belgrade, and one of the founders of physics as a science in this region should be left in oblivion. This text is a modest contribution to that effort, which belongs to future generations. It is telling that we cannot even be certain about the year of birth of Mira Jurić. Some sources mention 1916, while others say 1912. In the very few biographical notes that can be found about her, there is an empty space between her year of birth and the information that she completed high school in Zagreb, which a curious researcher can fill in only with imagination. The former vizier town immortalized in the famous chronicle by Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić had completely lost its administrative significance by that time, and during the Great War, when the heroine of our story was born, it remained in the relative safety of the deep hinterland, far from any direct war activity. However, the “exceptional geostrategic position” of Travnik may have spared it from direct war operations, but not from hunger, disease, or drought. Even though we know nothing about Mira’s earliest childhood, we would not be mistaken in assuming it was difficult, as evidenced by the fact that she would seek her secondary education at a Zagreb high school. It is not unlikely that the entire family moved to Zagreb in search of better economic opportunities. Still, although Mira continued to list Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as her place of birth throughout her life, nothing is known today about that period of her life; the connection to her homeland remains to be discovered by future researchers. After graduating from the State and Girls’ Real Gymnasium in Zagreb, Mira enrolled in the study of physics and mathematics at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, which she completed in 1940, at the dawn of another world war. According to school records, we know that she completed the fourth grade with “excellent” and the other grades with “very good” marks, and that from the sixth grade (1931/32), she started using the name Ratimira . Apart from this scarce information, it is already necessary at this point to invoke a ‘refrain’ that will likely repeat throughout this text: not much is known about her youth in Zagreb or her student days. We can stretch our imagination and picture a student from the Bosnian provinces showing natural talent and intelligence, but also, perhaps, an awakening of a rebellious spirit and a search for own identity.
We do not know whether Ratimira was her baptismal name or a teenage impulse for uniqueness, given that Mira was by far the most common name in her school – in her class alone, there were four other Miras (which certainly says something about the naming culture for girls born during the war, but perhaps also about the specific humor of our heroine). But all of that is beyond the actual documents available.
However, if you flip through the old Yugoslav books, now of interest only to specialized historians, one can glean some insights about Mira from her student days. In the book “Women of Croatia in the National Liberation War,” a footnote states that before the war, Mira Jurić was “the president of the Junior section of university-educated women.” This refers to the Yugoslav branch of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW), founded in 1918 by Dean Virginia Gildersleeve (Barnard College, USA) and Professors Caroline Spurgeon (University of London) and Rose Sidgwick (University of Birmingham), aiming to promote “pacifism and cross-border cooperation.” The Yugoslav chapter was an excellent example of women’s organizing in the interwar period. The association protected “the professional interests of women, advocated for women’s advancement in the workforce, and demanded changes in civil law.” Most importantly, they shared feminist views and advocated for women’s suffrage. The Junior section was formed somewhat later to allow participation by students who had not yet graduated and it, too, was exceptionally socially active. In the book Women of Croatia in the National Liberation War we also find information that she was one of the prominent members of the Society for the Education of Women, which existed in Zagreb from 1937, and expanded its activities in 1940 and 1941 under the Communist Party of Yugoslavia directive. The Society was officially disbanded at the beginning of the occupation, but its illegal work continued in smaller groups, eventually forming the basis for the establishment of the Initiative Committee of the Antifascist Front of Women of Croatia (AFŽ) in 1941. Not much is known (again!) about Mira Jurić’s concrete engagement in these positions, but it is clear that, alongside cultural and educational work, the Society’s focus was on antifascist values. One does not need to be overly imaginative to conclude that this was the seed of Mira Jurić’s deeply transformative engagement, which would have enormous significance in the scientific community some decades later.
The fact that Mira Jurić was involved in the work of these groups indicates that she was eager to contribute to society as an antifascist and feminist intellectual years before the outbreak of the Second World War.
It is therefore no surprise that in 1942 she joined the Partisan movement, initially taking part in civilian medical activities, and the following year, as an instructor of ZAVNOH , went to work in the Regional National Liberation Committee for Dalmatia (most likely active in Šibenik at the AFŽ committee, where she was in charge of organizing medical courses, but also mentioned in connection to the village of Preodac near Bosansko Grahovo ).
Let us dwell a bit more on the period of the National Liberation War, which was undoubtedly an interesting chapter in Mira Jurić’s life. In educational records, we find her in 1942 in Drežnica. A bit later, according to an article published in the Borba newspaper in 1943, she is located in Lika, specifically in the town of Otočac, where the First Partisan Gymnasium was established. In an interview for Borba, Vice Zaninović , the first director of that wartime school, lists Mira Jurić among the teaching staff. The school, described by the inspired journalist as “an inseparable part of the people’s revolution,” opened in June 1943 with the goal of conducting “educational work based on the libertarian ideas and goals of the people’s revolution.” It employed “a well-selected partisan staff”: “Teachers could not be just anyone, as they had to influence the youth and pass on partisan ideas in a region just vacated by the Italians, cleansed of Ustasha and Chetniks. The people hesitated to send their children to such a school. That is why some had to leave their units and take on teaching roles in the school – Marta Korošec Saili, Mira Jurić (…)” It was a school where the schoolyard was flown over by fighter planes, recesses interrupted by Italian machine-gun fire, but also a school where, in the words of Zaninović, the unusual, hardworking students, mature beyond their years, listened to Vladimir Nazor recite his famous poem titled “Joy.” Finally, it was, as education historians proudly point out, the first school to issue diplomas with a red star.
With a bit of imagination, we can see, likely in the background, their natural sciences teacher, Mira Jurić, then in her late twenties or maybe early thirties. She must’ve been full of antifascist and partisan ideals, but also unwavering belief that education could save the world, even in the midst of the most destructive war humanity had ever faced. The work was done in harsh material conditions, without pay, passionately and devotedly, sometimes even under the open sky . The passionate speeches of Party members clearly emphasized that the task of partisan schools was to create the “new man,” but before that could happen, the teacher herself had to become one.
Zaninović writes that it was precisely in that school and similar ones that the foundations of the future school system were laid, to which Mira also contributed not only as a teacher (as confirmed by a later report to ZAVNOH submitted by Zaninović himself, mentioning her name among the complex tasks of the Department of Education ). Mira Jurić’s name also appears in the Education Commission of 1945.
After the war, during which she gained immeasurably valuable teaching and combat experience, Mira Jurić continued building her scientific career by enrolling in postgraduate studies in Saint Petersburg, then Leningrad. Even at that time, she had already identified her primary scientific interesti in the micro-world – from atomic and nuclear physics to a field that at the time was still terra incognita: particle physics. She completed her studies in 1948 and, almost immediately upon returning, secured a job as an assistant and researcher at the newly founded Institute for Nuclear Sciences in Vinča. She would spend eight years there (from 1949 to 1957). Professor Dragana Popović, author of the book Women in Science From Archimedes to Einstein, when asked whether Mira’s employment was aided by her partisan involvement, answered that Jurić “was certainly an exceptional expert, because Vinča at the Minutes from the meeting of ZAVNOH leadership at which the organization and current work of individual departments were discussed (22 December 1944). State Antifascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia – Collection of Documents 1944 (From 10 May to 31 December). Institute for the History of the Workers’ Movement of Croatia, Zagreb, 1975. time gathered top talents from all parts of former Yugoslavia.” “People were hired there based on merit; the institute brought together individuals who were, above all, outstanding,” Popović said. A report from the magazine Borba, dating from that period, places Mira among the younger scientific staff at the ‘Boris Kidrič’ Institute (known today as the Vinča Institute).
The enthusiastic lead of the article reads: In constant battle with atoms – devices that penetrate the heart of matter, preparations for the production of atomic energy. This was the time of postwar reconstruction and development, when not only Yugoslavia’s nuclear hopes came to the fore, but also the zeal of young scientific forces. It was during this time that Dutch scientist Robert Valen was tasked to establish important research laboratories at “Boris Kidrič”.
Mira is shown next to a board on which “an untrained eye can see nothing but lines of varying sizes, directions, and heights, resembling scratches written by an unskilled child’s hand,” the journalist reports. She is credited as an assistant and ‘scientific worker’, explaining to the reporter that almost all particles discovered by science up to that point are traced there, as each leaves a different trail: “those straight lines were made by protons, and those caterpillar-like broken ones – by electrons.”
Mira Jurić defended her doctoral dissertation in February 1956 at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Belgrade, on the topic “Mechanisms of (d,p) reaction induced by 600 to 1400 keV deterons,” marking the beginning of her academic ascent. The following year, she established a course in atomic physics at the Department of Physics, while simultaneously developing her university career through teaching and research. She became an assistant at the Physics Institute (founded in 1961) in 1962, and soon after, the head of the High Energy Department at the Institute. This was a time when Yugoslavia began founding major scientific institutes, and physics was being developed “as a Yugoslav idea.”
The 1960s were a time of hard work in what was then the most exciting field of physics – elementary particle physics. Great funds were poured into scientific research, partly due to Yugoslavia’s political aspirations to be “competitive” in nuclear geopolitics, but also due to genuine enthusiasm that nuclear physics could be the key to a better future. High-energy physics was a competitive and prestigious scientific field where major discoveries and paradigm shifts were expected. In 1965, we find Mira Jurić in the key position of leader of the elementary particle group that studied particle collisions and worked closely with CERN, which provided them with nuclear emulsions from detectors and enabled them to analyze collision processes.
The following year, she went on a research visit to the Laboratory for Particle Physics in Strasbourg, marking the beginning of her many international collaborations. From this period date two photographs of Mira Jurić in her middle years, showing her welcoming, with other associates from the Institute of Physics, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. In both photographs, her face is adorned with a reserved smile, yet visible pride (1961). The student demonstrations in 1968 did not significantly disrupt scientific work at the Physics Institute; on the contrary, it would turn out that a serious momentum in scientific development occurred. That year, Mira Jurić, together with Smilja Popov, published new results obtained from emulsion analysis. The following year, she and Živojin Todorović made their first major discovery of new particles: “In the analysis of 308 collisions with hyperfragments, obtained by bombarding nuclei in emulsion with K-mesons, 15 unusual events appeared”. Bubnjević and Vidić state that for the microscopists at the Institute of Physics, some of them provoked excitement comparable to the Moon landing – the thrill of every step into the unknown.”
During the next decade, under Mira Jurić’s leadership, about ten female scientists worked in the prestigious field of high-energy physics at the Institute. During this period, she would add to her already long list of relevant scientific papers her most important one. In 1971, Jurić and her collaborators discovered the nucleus of the hypernucleus ⁸He, publishing their findings in the eminent journal Nuclear Physics. The essential novelty was the discovery of an exotic isotope of helium with a nucleus containing “eight” nucleons, where some of the neutrons were replaced by a hyperon particle. It was her crowning achievement, her hypernuclear classic an authentic contribution to the Standard Model of elementary particles, which remains one of the greatest challenges of modern physics. This would be followed by further research of other hypernuclei, one of which is still cited today (according to InspireHEP, the latest citation was in 2024) . There are strong indications that research into hypernuclei may have applications in contemporary astrophysics – for example, in the study of neutron stars, which are examples of so called dense matter, playing a key role in solving the “hyperon puzzle,” one of the greatest enigmas of modern astrophysics. Allow me to romanticize her accomplishments a bit – the legacy of Mira Jurić might stretch from the tiniest particles to the most exotic celestial bodies…
During the 1960s and 1970s, Yugoslav science experienced a great expansion in international cooperation, in which Mira Jurić played a significant role. The research and measurements she conducted with her group could not have been performed without international support, especially at CERN, in which Yugoslavia was involved from the very beginning (as one of the twelve founding countries). Mira Jurić’s name appears on the list of organizers for Yugoslavia of the major International School of Elementary Particle Physics.
The school, also known as the “Easter” or “Spring” School, was organized in Herceg Novi in the second half of May 1964 thanks to the cooperation between CERN and the Yugoslav Federal Commission for Nuclear Energy. An article in CERN Courier states that this was the third edition of the international school, whose primary goal was to support young physicists who used nuclear emulsions in their research. After the first two spring meetings, “for the third edition, an invitation came from the Federal Commission for Nuclear Energy of Yugoslavia to hold it in the Nuclear Center in the town of Herceg Novi on the Montenegrin coast. The Commission also generously offered to provide accommodation for a number of lecturers. This kind invitation, sent to the Emulsion Experiment Committee by Dr. Mira Jurić from the University of Belgrade, was accepted and the result was a school jointly organized by CERN and the Federal Commission for Nuclear Energy.” The school gathered 120 students from 24 countries, and some of the lecturers were key names in elementary particle physics of that time: E.H.S. Burhop, L. Van Hove, J. C. Combe, C. Franzinetti… “The academic quality of the gathering was so high that the most dominant criticism in the evaluation forms was that the surroundings of Herceg Novi were too beautiful, which significantly reduced the participants’ focus.”
Again, we do not find Mira Jurić in the front rows. In the only photograph from this prestigious gathering, as per good South Slavic custom, mostly the guests – men are in the foreground. The school, however, was declared such a success that it continued for the next several years, creating, in modern terms, a hub for younger generation researchers in the field of elementary particle physics, with a focus on work involving nuclear emulsions.
In addition to CERN’s newsletter, praise for the organization and location of the event was published year after year in the newspaper Za komunizam (For Communism) of the United Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Soviet Union. Here is one such example: “For the participants of the school, excursions were organized to the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, as well as to Kotor, Budva, and other towns along the Adriatic coast. We saw many interesting sights and customs in these cities (for example, the carnival parade on Youth Day). Yugoslav comrades spoke enthusiastically about their homeland. (…) We carry only the most beautiful memories of Yugoslavia, of its hardworking people, friendly toward the Soviet people.”
While virtually flipping through these newspapers, I also come across a potentially hidden trace of Mira Jurić from this period of exciting international meetings. In another article from the aforementioned Soviet publication, a certain “Professor Đurić, an energetic woman, communist, former Partisan” is mentioned, with whom the author of the article spoke about partisan battles and mutual acquaintances in Dubna, where the Institute for Nuclear Research is located, and who, after the school, hosted the Soviet delegation at the Vinča Institute along with another colleague. Whether a transliteration error occurred when translating from Serbo-Croatian to Russian is hard to say, but judging by all the details provided in this brief yet striking portrait – could it not be our heroine?
The High Energy Physics Group led by Jurić would later participate in other international projects such as Batavia – a collaboration of nine laboratories from Europe and Canada (studying high-energy proton and meson interactions (200 400 GeV) with nuclei), the “Relativistic Nuclear Physics” Project (in cooperation with the Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, USSR), then the Meteorite and Mineral Research Project (Laboratory for Nuclear Reactions, Dubna, USSR), as well as the Study of Fission and Fragmentation of Heavy Nuclei (SADVI, Strasbourg, France). We can see that in the recognizable non-aligned fashion, fierce geopolitical opponents coexisted here, demonstrating that Jurić, together with her collaborators, actively built bridges of scientific cooperation, without which progress is unimaginable. Mira Jurić’s scientific career would last until 1978, when she retired, just three years after being appointed full professor. At the University of Belgrade, she held a number of functions: Head of the Department of Physics (1970-71), the first head of the Department of Physical and Meteorological Sciences (1971-73), and President of the Faculty Council (1973-75). After the faculty’s reorganization, she also served as Head of the Department of Atomic Physics. She was the recipient of numerous decorations – the Medal for Bravery, the Order of Brotherhood and Unity, II and III Class, the Order of Labour, II Class, and the Order of Merits for the People, III Class Although she was successful both as a lecturer and as a researcher, she was, first and foremost, a researcher, perpetually drawn to the mysterious micro-world, whose secrets humanity was only beginning to understand. She wrote over 60 scientific papers, mostly published in foreign journals, among which are the eminent Nuclear Physics, Physics Letters, Physical Review, etc. She presented at scientific conferences in Paris, Florence, Lund, Munich, Heidelberg, and, of course, in cities of the former Yugoslavia. She authored the textbook Atomic Physics (Naučna knjiga, Belgrade, 1976), as well as several popular science articles. “High-energy physics is still on the offensive,” wrote Jurić for Galaksija in an article aimed at engaging broader layers of the Yugoslav public in the “wondrous world of the microcosm.” Since we are tracing her through specialized publications, document collections, scientific databases, old press, and even footnotes, it is very difficult to say what kind of person Mira Jurić was. Dragana Popović describes her as “a very modest and withdrawn person.” “I must say that we, as students, had less contact with her than with other professors. She interacted less with us outside of lectures. But during lectures, she was fair and respectful, as well as during exams. A serious, modest person who did not stand out. And I think that is precisely why there is so little information about her today,” Popović said in an interview, noting that even her former colleagues could not recall many details of her life. Mira simply came to work, worked diligently, treated everyone respectfully, but kept her private life private. Professor Jelena Krstić described her as an exceptionally kind woman, a beloved professor, but also could not say much more than that. “She was a classical lecturer,” said Popović, “but you have to know that this was a time when most professors taught ex cathedra. These were traditional lectures, and I cannot say they were particularly inspirational, but what we knew then – and understood even more later – is that she, so to speak, was a much better researcher than a lecturer. In a research context, she was truly exceptional. In her time, she was well-recognized, and when you look at the journals she published in, you see that those are prestigious physics journals – even today, it’s hard to get published in them. So, her contribution to research was truly significant.”
Dragana Popović’s recollection quite well illustrates the way history remembers Mira Jurić – or rather, her presence in the documents uncovered during this research – always on the list of meritorious individuals, always present and active, but consistently in the background, in the last row. But perhaps the argument can be ‘reversed’ and it can be said that it is precisely such people – quiet, diligent, and unassuming – lay foundations and establish structures. Mira Jurić was the founder of important scientific institutions and, in part, the entire educational system of then-Yugoslavia, from the first grade of elementary school to research institutes.
As the spiritus movens of a narrow and specific scientific field that was on the rise during her time, she conducted complex experimental research in a country that was simultaneously delving into the secrets of matter and teaching basic literacy to the broader population. Moreover, Mira Jurić’s legacy is marked by her efforts as a pedagogue and a mentor – whether we are speaking of her many years of work at the University or of significant international collaborations in which she opened the doors of the fascinating cosmos of micro-particles to others.
Her legacy is scientific and educational, but also antifascist and feminist, while her achievements best illustrate the limitations and opportunities for female scientists in Yugoslavia. In a country that prided itself on the high participation (though never full equality) of women in the natural sciences, Mira Jurić exemplifies in many ways what it meant to be a scientist and an engaged intellectual in Yugoslavia: patient and persistent work, good leadership, building bridges of cooperation, but also the modesty and unpretentiousness expected of female scientists at that time. The fact that she is almost completely forgotten in contemporary memory and understanding of the development of natural sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina (although somewhat more present in Serbia, where she built her career) echoes with irony at a time of widespread advocacy for greater inclusion of women in the so-called STEM fields. However, this is to be expected – her personality and work represent not only her individual achievements, but also, in many ways, the triumphs of Yugoslav science, the Non Aligned Movement, and the People’s Liberation struggle and antifascism, which made possible both civil rights for women and their fascinating social, political, and scientific rise – which only a few decades earlier had been unimaginable. This is precisely a legacy that today’s ethnocentric societies make every effort to ignore, following a dreadful idea that history started with them.