The commemorative plaque dedicated to Jelica Belović-Bernadzikowska was unveiled on September 22 this year at the Uspensko cemetery in Novi Sad. Dušanka Marković, the curator and museum advisor of the City Museum of Novi Sad, Svetlana Prokić, the president of the Circle of Serbian Sisters and Dr Gordana Stojaković spoke on the occasion.

The initiative to put up the plaque was launched by the Circle of Serbian Sisters of the Eparchy of Bačka in 2016, at the suggestion of Dušanka Marković. The plan was to put up the plaque in 2020, on the 150th anniversary of Jelica Belović-Bernadzikowska’s birth, but the deadline was moved due to the pandemic. This year’s unveiling of the plaque marks 75 years since the death of the renowned ethnographer and author, pedagogue and editor of the Srpkinja (The Serbian Woman) almanac from 1913.

Thus, Novi Sad once again paid respect to its esteemed resident, who even has a street named after her in this city. This sets an example for other cities in which Jelica Belović-Bernadzikowska worked, such as Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Zagreb and Osijek, and represents a role-model regarding possible plaques dedicated to other great women that our culture is indebted to.

On Jelica Belović-Bernadzikowska in the database and journal Knjiženstvo: http://knjizenstvo.etf.bg.ac.rs/en/authors/jelica-belovic-bernadzikovska.

Translated by Radojka Jevtić

Photo: D. Marković