Muslims in the Balkans make up a significant part of the population, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. Islam has been present in this part of Europe since the Ottomans (14^th to 19^th century), eventually  it became the dominant religion in certain areas of society.

In 1903, Bosnia and Herzegovina and its capital- Sarajevo was transitioning both socially and politically. The Ottoman Empire, which was meeting its end, withdrew from the Balkans, and  Austro-Hungary took over, introducing many novelties, including obligatory education for all except for the girls. Patriarchy permeated both European and Bosnian society, resulting in treating female education as irrelevant.

There were “Girl’s schools” that were only a few years long in duration of study and limited, and the high schools or gymnasiums were only accessible to boys, and they were usually named so- “Man’s high school” or “Man’s Gymnasium”. The aforementioned year, 1903, is also known as the year when the first female doctor in former Yugoslavia- doctor Sevala Zildzic Iblizovic was born^[1]. She hailed  from a  well-known Sarajevo family- the Zildzic, who were  renowned for brass work. Sevala was highly inspired by her family members who were well educated.

She attended the Girls’school and after graduation she was keen to  continue her education and become a doctor. In order to  study medicine she first had to attend the Gymnasium, which was known as Men’s High School, and no girl had ever set foot there. The school rejected her application, but that didn’t stop her. She decided to approach  one of the highest authorities in the country-  Rais-ulama^[3] Dzemaluddin Causevic, and ask him for permission to attend this school. She got the permission without any further discussion, the permission granted changed her life forever and paved the path for many other intelligent and ambitious girls that were yet to make their place in history.  Sevala was headed toward realizing her aspirations when she began to face serious challenges. She was subjected to peer violence, and her family experienced strong  hostility  from the neighbors among others. Many years later, her son revealed in an interview that the violence went so far that stones were thrown at her^[4]. to protect her, her father decided to take her every day to school and pick her up. Their family was the main topic of discussion in the neighborhood, people shamed them because Sevala attended an only-men school, also the family business suffered as many people refused to purchase at their shop and they faced economic boycott. Life became easier as Sevala successfully graduated and moved to Zagreb, where she enrolled in University and finally started to begin pursuing her goal of becoming a doctor.

At the University she met her husband– who studied philosophy but inspired by Sevala’s passion for medicine, he transferred to the Medical Faculty. They decided to get married while pursuing  their studies, and in 1931 they both successfully graduated , becoming the first Muslim couple  medical doctors,  but for Sevala that also meant becoming the first Muslim female doctor of medicine in the Balkan^[5]. Sevala’s inspiring story  caught the attention of the global  media  and The New York Times featured  Sevala’s success^[6].

She worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Zagreb. She was offered a promotion but she decided to return  to Sarajevo, where she couldn’t get a job for the next two years. Later on she did her residency at the City Hospital, and became a specialist in gynecology and pediatrics. As per the Bosnian Futures Foundation she visited patients privately during WWII and facilitated birth in their homes since the hospitals were closed, regardless of ethnicity, social status, or the political and religious affiliation of women.^[7] She was known for her humanitarian work and volunteered  in various humanitarian organizations and at one point voluntarily worked as a librarian and an archivist of the local branch of the Women’s Movement.

Footnotes:

1. Ševala (first from the left) with her brothers and sister in the first picture above:  https://www.bhfuturesfoundation.org/sevala-zildzic-iblizovic-en accessed on 03 of March, 2025
2. https://www.bhfuturesfoundation.org/sevala-zildzic-iblizovic-en accessed on 20.03.2025
3. The Rais-ulama is the Supreme Authority and the Grand Mufti of the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
4. https://balkans.aljazeera.net/opinions/2019/12/21/historijski-razgovor-reisa-causevica-i-djevojcice-sevale accessed on 03 of March, 2025
5. https://www.bhfuturesfoundation.org/sevala-zildzic-iblizovic-en accessed on 02 of March, 2025
6. Tim novinara Magazina StartBiH. „Ševala Zildžić-Iblizović, prva Bošnjakinja doktorica: Partizanka s fildžanom u Evropi“. // StartBiH, 18. oktobar 2005;  p. 56.
7. Ibid.

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