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Anka Obrenović
(1821-68m)

Biographical

Anka was one of the most enlightened woman of the Balkans in the 19th century.  An intellectual, she studied literature and music and was also very fond of Viennese fashion which earned her the nickname 'Anka the Fashionista'.  From the age of fifteen, she began translating books from German, and a number of her works were published.  She was a confident, outgoing woman, with a love of luxury, and she flirted with many courtiers.  Numerous poets and musicians dedicated their works to her.  During the first reign of her uncle, she acted as the first lady of Serbia.  She created a scandal after she bore a daughter to the husband of her dead sister Simka.  Her reputation was further tarnished after she tried to arrange the marriage of her daughter, Katrina, to Mihailo Obrenović III who also desired the marriage.  This was to become a very heated political issue and the Church eventually forbade the union due to the close kinship between the two and because of Katrina's age.  Anka was killed in the Topčider forest along with her cousin Mihailo whom she tried to protect. She was apportioned some of the blame for the prince's murder, and the negative view of her continued after her death.

Place of death: Belgrade