Smilja Mučibabić (14 October 1912 – 12 August 2006) was a Bosnian biologist. She was among the most distinguished biologists in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in the 20th century. She was born in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

and died 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 ...

. She was: * first Bosnia-Herzegovinian

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

(

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, 1953), * founder and first head of the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo (1953), * co-founder of the Faculty of Science

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

(1954), * the first dean of the Faculty of Science in Sarajevo (1960), * founder, first and long-time head of the Department of Biology of the Faculty of Science in Sarajevo (1960), and * co-founder and first president of several professional and scientific associations and their journals (in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and former

Biography

Smilja Mučibabić was born in

on 14 September 1912, where she received elementary and high school education. From 1930 until 1934 she studied biology at the Faculty of Philosophy 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 ...

. Mostar was then part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. Before the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she was a professor in

Veliko Gradište Veliko Gradište ( sr-cyr, Велико Градиште, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the Braničevo District of eastern Serbia. It is located on the right bank of the Danube River and left bank of the Pek River. In 2022, the town ...

, and then in

Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-Cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka Districtautonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danube, from Novi Sad. According to the 202 ...

. As a member of a group of pro-

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

activists, she was arrested and taken to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

camp Jankomir near

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 ...

, and later to the prison on the Savska cesta where she was detained until the end of the war 1945. In the first after the war days, Smilja Mučibabić returned to

Krapina Krapina (; ) is a town in northern Croatia and the administrative centre of Krapina-Zagorje County with a population of 4,482 (2011) and a total municipality population of 12,480 (2011). Krapina is located in the hilly Zagorje region of Croatia ...

and worked ina high school until the end of the school 1945/1946 . She was transferred to the Teacher School in

. The following year, as an experienced professional, she was appointed director of this gymnasium. Her successful management of the Gymnasium and her care for the improvement of teaching were noted, and she received numerous awards and prizes. In autumn 1949 she became a professor at the Higher Pedagogical School in

. She worked there until the founding of the Department of Biology at the

Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo The Faculty of Humanities () is the oldest and one of the most prominent faculties of the University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The institution was established on 14 February 1950 by the decision of the People's Republic of Bosnia and ...

(1954). Then she was sent to the Zoological Institute of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in

. For two years she worked for the opening and launching of the newly established chair for biology in

. She got a

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

scholarship to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. For two years, she worked on a PhD doctoral dissertation in protozoological

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

. Smilja Mučibabić was exceptionally allowed to defending a doctoral thesis after two years.
Chilo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mucibabic, Smilja Yugoslav zoologists Academic staff of the University of Sarajevo Ecologists Women ecologists People from Mostar 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina women Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1912 births 2006 deaths