Jovanka Bončić-Katerinić

Jovanka Bončić-Katerinić (Serbian Cyrillic: Јованка Бончић-Катеринић; 5 July 1887 – 27 December 1966) was a Serbian and then Yugoslav architect who worked in the interwar period. Born in Serbia, Bončić-Katerinić was the first woman to obtain an engineering degree in Imperial Germany.[1][2]

Jovanka Bončić-Katerinić
Banova palata
Born5 July 1887
Died27 December 1966
OccupationArchitect
Known forBanski Dvor in Banja Luka, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Belgrade
SpouseAndrej Katerinić

Education and early life

Bončić was born in Niš, Serbia, in 1887. Her father was Mihailo, a lawyer and judge. Her mother, Katarina Petrović, was originally from Belgrade. Bončić first attended elementary school in Požarevac and then in Vranje.[3] In 1905, she graduated from a Belgrade high school and went on to study architecture at the University of Belgrade.[3] While there, she undertook an internship for the Serbian State Railways.[4] In her last year of studies, she was granted a scholarship from the Ministry of Construction[5] allowing her to attend Darmstadt University in Germany where she obtained two degrees.[6] In 1913, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture and also one in engineering.[7]

In 1914, Bončić married Ukrainian engineer Andrej Katerinić, whom she met at Darmstadt University. They lived in several cities, including Petrograd, Riga, Moscow, Kozelovo, Kiev, Padolsky and the outskirts of Odessa.[8] To escape the Russian Revolution, they fled to Belgrade in 1922. He worked as an engineer for the municipal government. Bončić and her husband had three sons, Mihailo, Petar and Vitaly.

Career

Banski Dvor Cultural Center, Banja Luka

Bončić was hired by the Yugoslav Ministry of Construction starting in the 1920s. Until the outbreak of the Second World War, she constructed mostly public buildings in modern-day Serbia and in Bosnia-Herzegovina.[4] In 1931, she helped construct the Banski Dvor cultural center in Banja Luka. Banski Dvor is today a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[4][9]

She was the architect of several structures in Belgrade. In 1935, she built the "Queen Mary Women Teachers Training School"[10][5] and co-designed the Faculty of Law building with architect Petar Bajalović. She also worked on the reconstruction of the "Ankera" home located on Balkanska street. She is known for having designed Belgrade's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1939.[8] The structure is free standing and has an unadorned facade.[5]

Bončić also built part of the spa baths in Banja Koviljaca. She designed a hospital in Despotovac and a high school in Smederevo. She built several elementary schools throughout Serbia. During the Second World War, she did minor contracts in Petrovac for the Ministry of Construction and retired in 1945.[3][11]

Koviljača Spa

Awards and distinctions

In 1928, Bončić was decorated with the Order of St. Sava from the Yugoslav government. Ten years later she received the Order of the Yugoslav Crown.[8] In 2018, her original blueprints were exhibited at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine during the annual Museum Night event.[8][12][13][14]

A geology prize in her name is awarded at Darmstadt University, where she became the first woman to receive an engineering degree in Germany in 1913.[1][15] The Berlin newspaper "Illustrierte Zeitung" even covered the story of Bončić's graduation with a photo of her surrounded by an all male class.[3][16][17] The Darmstadt University campus also boasts a street in her name.[8]

See also

References

  1. "Artikel aus RUBENS Nr. 180". www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  2. "ŽENE U ARHITEKTURI IZMEĐU 1900. i 1960". bina.rs. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  3. Bukvić, Dimitrije. "Prva žena inženjer u Nemačkoj". politika.rs. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  4. "Srpkinja prvi inženjer u Nemačkoj". www.novosti.rs. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  5. http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-0861/2017/0350-08611702437V.pdf
  6. "Nišlijka bila prva inženjerka u Nemačkoj". juznevesti.com. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  7. "» Neizbrisivi tragovi niških naučnica". euinfo.rs. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  8. "OVO OVOJ SRPKINJI ZNA CELA NEMAČKA, ALI NIKO U SRBIJI: Ko je Jovanka Bončić? - Ekspres.net". www.ekspres.net. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  9. "Banski dvor - Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina". Yellow.Place. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  10. "TECHNOLOGY, MANAGЕMENT, DESIGN - The Sustainable WorΛd". universityofbelgrade.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  11. Maskareli, Draginja (January 2003). "O delatnosti arhitekte Jovanke Bončić-Katerinić" [Summary: About the Activity of the Architect Jovanka Boncic-Katerinic]. Leskovački zbornik XLIII (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 May 2018 via academia.edu.
  12. "Home". nocmuzeja.rs.
  13. Vuk Ršumović - poznati preporučuju omiljene pobedničke priče u XV Noći muzeja. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09.
  14. "15. Noć muzeja – Beogradski pobednički duh osvaja ceo grad".
  15. "Žene u nauci - JUGPRESS". jugpress.com. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  16. "DNEVNIK ZABLUDA: Žene u arhitekturi". www.novosti.rs. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  17. "Jovanka Bončić Katerinić - Kakva Zenska". kakvazenska.com. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
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