Darinka Mirković Borović (18 January 1896 – 8 February 1979) was a Montenegrin nurse during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and a bearer of the

Albanian Commemorative Medal Commemorative Medal for Loyalty to the Fatherland 1915 () or Commemorative Medal of the Great Serbian Retreat, better known as the Albanian Commemorative Medal () was a single-classed military medal awarded to all Serbian military personnel who ...

. She worked in the

Valjevo Hospital Valjevo Hospital is a general hospital in Valjevo, Serbia. War hospital in Valjevo War Hospital in Valjevo became the medical symbol of sacrifice and humanity during the World War I and World War II, as it was the biggest naval hospital in the w ...

in Serbia, and in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, where wounded and sick Serbian soldiers were evacuated. After the war she was active in humanitarian societies and the

Circle of Serbian Sisters The Circle of Serbian Sisters ( sr-Latn, Kolo Srpskih Sestara) was a women's charitable society established in Belgrade in 1903. Among the founders of the society were Mabel Grouitch, Mabel Grujić, wife of Slavko Grujić, Slavko J. Grujić, Blan ...

Biography

Darinka Mirković Borović was born in

Pljevlja Pljevlja (, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Ćehotina, Ćehotina river. The town lies at an altitude of . In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial ...

on 18 January 1896. Her father owned a cafe. There, she met a young lieutenant of the Serbian army, Stanislav Staš Milovanović, from Belgrade. After marriage in the summer of 1914, they moved to

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 ...

, but Milovanović is killed during military service at

Mačkov Mačkov is a municipality and village in Strakonice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 300 inhabitants. Geography Mačkov is located about north of Strakonice and southeast of Plzeň. It lies in the Blatn� ...

in September 1914. Borović trained as a nurse, in order to help the wounded. She worked in the

and on the battlefields. She survived the crossing to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and in 1917, she reached

, where wounded and sick Serbian soldiers were evacuated. Borović was later awarded the Albanian Commemorative Medal. In Marseille, Borović met pharmacist Petar Borovic, born in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

, who worked in the Allied medical treatment. They married in 1920 in Belgrade, where they continued to live. Petar Borovic opened a pharmacy and Darinka opened a store selling corsets and women's underwear, and opened a workshop making

trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

and belts for ailments such as hernias. The couple had two sons, who both became doctors. Borović was active in humanitarian societies and the

, She was a great friend of Queen Maria of Yugoslavia. Borović helped organize many charity events to raise funds for hospitals, schools, and orphanages. Petar Borovic's pharmacy was destroyed during bombing in the Second World War. Borović died on 8 February 1979 in Belgrade and is buried in the

Belgrade New Cemetery The New Cemetery ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Ново гробље, Novo groblje) is a cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, ...

. Her husband Petar predeceased her, dying in 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borovic, Darinka Mirkovic 1896 births 1979 deaths People from Pljevlja Montenegrin women in World War I Circle of Serbian Sisters Female nurses in World War I World War I nurses Montenegrin nurses