Jelisaveta Načić
I Jelisaveta Načić was the first female architect in Serbia and the first woman to serve as the City Architect of Belgrade. Her work and life stand as a testament to the extraordinary courage, determination, and talent of a woman who pushed the boundaries of a patriarchal society at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
General Biographical Information
She was born in 1878 in Belgrade, the thirteenth child in a distinguished and wealthy merchant family. At a time when only seven percent of women in Serbia were literate, Jelisaveta managed to complete her education and became a pioneer in a profession dominated exclusively by men. Although her family did not support her ambitions, Jelisaveta was determined. She spent her entire dowry to fund her education.
Career
After graduating from secondary school, she enrolled at the Technical Faculty of the Great School in Belgrade, becoming the only woman in the first generation of students at the Department of Architecture. She graduated among the top of her class, despite numerous societal prejudices and obstacles. At just 22 years old, she was employed as a technical draftsman in the Ministry of Construction. After passing the state examination in 1902, she began working as the City Architect in the Engineering-Architectural Department of the Belgrade Municipality. Early in her career, she achieved notable success by winning third place in the competition for the design of the church in Topola.
Major Projects
Little Kalemegdan Her first significant engagement was in the landscaping of Little Kalemegdan, according to the project of renowned architect Dimitrije T. Leko. She designed a Baroque-style decorative staircase made of green stone, which still adorns Kalemegdan near the French Embassy
King Peter I Elementary School At only 27 years old, she designed one of the most modern school buildings of her time — King Peter I Elementary School in Belgrade. The school was equipped with electric lighting, heating, restrooms, an assembly hall, and a gymnasium — features characteristic of the most advanced educational institutions of that era. Today, the school is protected under UNESCO heritage.
Hospital for Tuberculosis Patients She designed the first specialized hospital for tuberculosis patients in Western Vračar, featuring spacious sun terraces, which was a highly progressive solution for the time. Unfortunately, the building was destroyed during World War I. Industrial Facilities She also designed the first circular kiln for brick production in Prokop, as well as other industrial structures, demonstrating her wide-ranging architectural expertise.
Sacred Architecture Following her success in the competition for the church in Topola, she designed the foundations for the Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky at the corner of Cara Dušana and Francuska Streets in Belgrade. Due to wartime and political changes, the church’s construction continued based on altered projects by other architects, but Jelisaveta’s contribution remains historically significant, The only religious building fully realized according to her project was the small memorial church in Štimlje, Kosovo, built in 1920 and restored after damage in 2004.
II Residential and Social Architecture In 1911, the Belgrade Municipality constructed the first planned workers’ housing based on her designs in what was then Đura Đaković Street. The building, with a simple façade and functional layout, still stands today as a testament to her ability to combine practicality with aesthetic simplicity.
Political Circumstances and Persecution
During World War I, Jelisaveta erected a triumphal arch on Terazije in honor of Serbian soldiers, bearing the inscription: “Not all Serbs have been liberated.” This patriotic gesture enraged the Austro-Hungarian authorities, and in 1916 she was deported to the Nezsider internment camp (in modern-day Hungary). There she met her future husband, intellectual and revolutionary Luka Lukai.
Private Life
After the war, they lived briefly in Belgrade with their daughter Lucia, then moved to Shkodër and Dubrovnik. Jelisaveta withdrew from active architectural practice and fully devoted herself to her family, supporting her husband’s political activities. Although she never returned to her profession, she maintained a deep love for Belgrade throughout her life and often expressed longing for her hometown.
Legacy
Almost all of her architectural works were created in Belgrade. Today, there is a street named after her in the municipality of Stari Grad. Her projects — schools, hospitals, residential buildings, and religious structures — remain enduring evidence of her exceptional talent and pioneering spirit.
Interesting facts
- With no financial support from her family for her education, Jelisaveta courageously used her entire dowry to study architecture—a bold and unconventional choice that broke deeply ingrained societal expectations.
- At an age when most young women of her time were still confined to domestic realms, Jelisaveta not only entered but graduated from the Faculty of Engineering in Belgrade—becoming its first female graduate and paving the way for future generations of women in technical fields.
- One of her earliest and most beloved projects is the charming Little Staircase in Kalemegdan Park (Mali Stepenište), completed in 1903. It’s one of those urban treasures you might walk by every day—unaware it was designed by a pioneering woman architect.
- Her professional life as an architect lasted only about 16 years, cut short by World War I and her internment in a camp. Yet in that short time, she left an impressive architectural legacy.