Draga Ljočić
I Draga Ljočić was the first Serbian female physician, a feminist, and a suffragette, and one of the most prominent advocates for women’s rights in Serbia. Her struggle for professional equality, social justice, and political rights for women left a deep mark on Serbian society.
General Biographical Information
She was born on February 22, 1855, in Šabac, as the fifth daughter of merchant Dima and Marija Ljokić. Her family was of Aromanian descent, having migrated to Šabac from Macedonia around 1820. She completed her primary education in her hometown and graduated from the Higher Women’s School in Belgrade. After finishing the Lyceum, in 1872, she became the first Serbian woman to enroll in a medical faculty – at the University of Zurich – a rare accomplishment for women at that time and a groundbreaking achievement at a time when women’s access to higher education was extremely limited in Europe While studying in Zurich, she encountered Russian female students and nihilists, whose ideas about social justice and women’s emancipation profoundly influenced her political and social beliefs. She died on November 5, 1926, in Belgrade and was buried at the New Cemetery.
Career
When the Serbian-Turkish war broke out in 1876, Draga Ljočić left her studies to join the Serbian army as a nurse. For her extraordinary bravery at the Battle of Šumatovac, she was awarded the rank of lieutenant, making her one of the very first female officers in the Serbian army After the war, she returned to Zurich and graduated in 1879 with a dissertation titled A Contribution to the Operative Therapy of Uterine Fibromyomas, becoming the first female physician in Serbia. Upon returning to Serbia, she faced significant obstacles in securing employment in the state sector. The Ministry of the Interior persistently refused to recognize her diploma until Queen Natalija personally intervened. Only after her professional competence was positively evaluated was she allowed to open a private practice.
In 1881, she was employed at the General State Hospital in Belgrade as an assistant physician. However, she was denied equal rights with her male colleagues – she received a lower salary, had no rights to promotion, nor to a pension. Her professional contribution was particularly notable during the Serbian Bulgarian War (1885), when she served as the sole physician in three Belgrade hospitals.
Fight for Equality
Draga Ljočić worked tirelessly for the professional equality of men and women in medicine. In 1889, she filed a request with the Ministry of the Interior for equal rights but met with strong resistance. The arguments of the officials at the time reflected deep-rooted misogyny:
“A woman, by her very nature, must lean on a stronger man.”
Despite the setbacks, she continued her fight, appealing even to King Milan and the State Council. Nevertheless, in 1889, she received a dismissal from state service. Afterward, she ran a successful private medical practice, treating poor children – especially girls – free of charge. After decades of struggle, by the end of 1924, she finally secured the right to a pension.
II War Service During the Serbian-Bulgarian War, the Balkan Wars, and World War I, she served as a physician on equal footing with her male colleagues. She was particularly distinguished during the Balkan Wars, working in the Civilian and Poor Population Clinic and at Nikola Spasić Hospital.
Philanthropy
Draga Ljočić was a great humanitarian. In 1904, she founded the Maternal Association for the Care of Abandoned Children and became its first president. Despite public criticism claiming that such associations “encouraged immorality,” she successfully secured a home for abandoned children and financial support from the Belgrade Municipality. She was also one of the founders of the Association of Women Physicians of Belgrade in 1919, which worked toward the establishment of a hospital for women and children. Although she did not live to see its opening, the hospital began operating in 1929, named after Scottish doctor Elsie Inglis. A committed feminist and socialist, she co-founded the Serbian National Women’s Alliance (1906) and advocated for women’s suffrage-presenting a petition for voting parity in 1911.
Writing and Educational Work
She translated Raising Young Children by Dr. Maria Manaseina from Russian, aiming to educate mothers on proper child-rearing practices. She wrote articles in the fields of gynecology and pediatrics and served as an assistant editor of the Serbian Archive for General Medicine.
Private Life
She was married to Raša Milošević, one of the founders of the People’s Radical Party. She kept her maiden name – a remarkable precedent for Serbian society at the time. They had five children. Her daughter Radmila followed her mother’s example and graduated from medical school in Zurich. Draga was known for living in a building located where the Hotel Moskva stands today. In conservative 19th-century Serbia, Draga was famous for wearing a men’s hat and keeping her last name after marriage-both radical acts at the time. These choices symbolized her refusal to conform to patriarchal expectations and made her instantly recognizable in Belgrade.
Draga Ljočić was more than Serbia’s first female physician-she was a courageous feminist, military medic, philanthropist, and tireless advocate for professional equality. Her journey from studying in Zurich to confronting institutional prejudice in Serbia exemplifies extraordinary determination. Her activism, professional milestones, and legacy of care for women and children cement her position as a transformative figure in both medical and civic history.