Fierce Women WOW Cards
We invited artists from all over Europe to help us present 30 firerce women from Croatia, Slovenia, Northern Macedonia and Ireland.
A new deck of cards that upgrades the board game Fierce Women (Vox Feminae) presents Alojzija Štebi, Vita Zupančič, Nan Joyce, Diana Budisavljević, Lyra McKee, Kathleen Lynn, Christine Buckley, Estelle Solomons, Angela Piskernik, Nuale O’Faolain, Nakie Bajram, Rajne Aleksovo, Vida Tomšič, Mara Bešter, Edita Schubert, Vera Vesković Vangeli, Dušana Šantel Kanoni, Marta Paulin Schmidt – Brina, Dragojla Jarnević, Zofka Kveder, Mimoza Nestorovo-Tomić, Iskra Grabul, Nasta Rojc, Giuseppina Martinuzzi, Maude Delap, Vinka Bulić, Rosa Plavevo, Ljiljana Dirjan, Kata Pejnović, Lydia Sklevicky.
Illustrations contributed: ♦ Ana Lucija Šarić ♦ Ana Salopek ♦ Chiara Tallarini ♦ Eimear McNally ♦ Helena Nemac ♦ Nazli Karaturna ♦ Polona Drašler ♦ Rina Barbarić ♦ Samira Kentrić ♦ Sindy Čolić ♦ Tamara Zabaznoska ♦ Tea Jurišić ♦ Tina Vukasović Đaković ♦ Xueh Magrini Troll ♦ Zoran Cardula
Alojzija Štebi
Ilustration: Ana Lucija Šarić
Politician, journalist, and editor of Ženski list (Women’s Newspaper). Her treatise Democracy and Womanhood outlined a program for improving the position of women in society. She founded the Feminist Alliance of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and was an advocate for parity between men and women. (1883 – 1956)
Vita Zupančič
Ilustration: Ana Lucija Šarić
Teacher and surdo-pedagogue, member of the first Slovene feminist society and co-founder of the Slovenian Association of Women Teachers. She emphasized the importance of education for the independence of deaf-mute girls and left a mark on the Institute for deaf and mute in Ljubljana, where she worked for 23 years. (1868 – 1950)
Nan Joyce
Ilustration: Ana Salopek
Irish Travellers’ rights activist that worked to improve the lives of Travellers in Ireland and Northern Ireland. She pioneered the cause of Travellers' rights, heightened awareness of the many hidden problems they faced, and was the first Traveller candidate in an Irish general election, in 1982. (1940 – 2018)
Diana Budisavljević
Ilustration: Ana Salopek
Humanitarian and social activist who organized an action to rescue Serbian children from fascist Ustasha camps during WW2. Her work is considered a forerunner of the Convention on the Rights of the Child when it comes to children at war and has contributed to the establishment of social work in Croatia. (1891 – 1987)
Lyra McKee
Ilustration: Chiara Tallarini
Investigative journalist who wrote about the consequences of the Northern Ireland conflict, institutional child abuse and was an active campaigner for LGBTQI and women’s rights. In Letter to My 14-Year-Old Self, she describes the persecution she suffered in school after revealing that she was gay. (1990 – 2019)
Kathleen Lynn
Ilustration: Chiara Tallarini
One of the first female medical graduates from University College Dublin and a Sinn Féin politician. A campaigner for equal rights for women and co-founder, with her lifelong partner - the equally fearless Madeleine French-Mullen, of Saint Ultan's Hospital in 1919, the only hospital in Ireland entirely managed by women. (1874 – 1955)
Christine Buckley
Ilustration: Eimear McNally
One of the first survivors of institutional abuse to lead a successful campaign for the investigation of the abuse of children in the industrial schools systems in Ireland. She was a qualified nurse and volunteered with helping survivors for over 30 years through counselling and education. (1946 – 2014)
Estella Solomons
Ilustration: Eimear McNally
One of the leading Irish artists of her generation and a woman at the very nerve-center of Dublin cultural life for half a century. She was a feminist, deeply involved in Cumann na mBan, an Irish republican women’s organization. Her studio was often raided, leading her to burn portraits of those she harbored. (1882 – 1968)
Angela Piskernik
Ilustration: Helena Nemec
Botanist and conservationist. In 1914 she became the first Slovene woman that obtained a doctorate in natural sciences. She described 2.222 plant species, initiated the protection of the first nature conservation areas in Slovenia, and was responsible for the establishment of the Triglav National Park. (1886 – 1967)
Nuala O’Faolain
Ilustration: Helena Nemec
Writer and journalist. The author of a popular opinion column for The Irish Times and several books, most notably the memoir Are You Somebody?: The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman. Through her works she spoke about love, loss, rejection, social problems, and gave a voice to the doubts and fears of women. (1940 – 2008)
Nakie Bajram
Ilustration: Nazli Karaturna
Turkish socialist, teacher, and women’s rights activist. She founded the Association of Turkish Women in Skopje in 1907, and in 1909 joined the Social Democratic organization formed by Rosa Plaveva and her husband. The central focus of Bajram’s activism was women’s education and emancipation. (1889 – 1962)
Rajna Aleksova
Ilustration: Nazli Karaturna
The first female pharmacist in Macedonia and the Balkans. After graduating in Switzerland in 1906, she couldn’t open her own pharmacy because laws of that time did not allow it. She finally gained her permit in 1909 and became one of the few women entrepreneurs in the region in the first half of the 20th century. (1883 – 1959)
Vida Tomšič
Ilustration: Polona Drašler
Anti-fascist, women’s rights activist, and politician who played a leading role in shaping social policies in Yugoslavia. She worked on the implementation of the program of women's emancipation, contributing to policies that promoted political, social, and economic equality of women. (1913 – 1998)
Mara Bešter
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Ilustration: Polona Drašler
The first Slovene Doctor of Economics. She introduced internationally comparable statistical indicators to Slovenia, dealt with economic and social implications of population reproduction and the economic position of women. In 1982 she was elected a judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia. (1922 – 2010)
Edita Schubert
Ilustration: Rina Barbarić
Her work holds a key place in the 20th century Croatian art. Her career spanning 30 years was marked by constant research into various artistic media, resulting in the discovery of completely original technologies for the performance of works and consequently the invention of a new artistic language. (1947 – 2001)
Vera Vesković Vangeli
Ilustration: Rina Barbarić
Historiographer, humanities scholar, and part of the first-generation of contemporary Macedonian historians. She paved the way for gendered research in national, social, and economic history, and dedicated her career to researching and affirming the role of women in history. (1933 – 2007)
Dušana Šantel Kanoni
Ilustration: Samira Kentrić
The first female architecture graduate in Slovenia. Her work included landscape architecture, building adaptations, designing furniture and toys. Her manual How to Furnish an Apartment was published in 1938, including the examples of furniture and decorative items of her own design. (1908 – 1988)
Marta Paulin Schmidt – Brina.
Ilustration: Samira Kentrić
Dance artist considered to be the first contemporary dancer in Slovenia before WW2. She participated in the National Liberation War, where she was one of the founders of partisan theater and was given the name Brina. Because of her injuries, she had to give up professional dancing, and after the war focused on pedagogical work. (1911 – 2002)
Dragojla Jarnević
Ilustration: Sindy Čolić
Teacher, writer, mountaineer, and member of the Croatian Pedagogical and Literary Association who was active in the Illyrian movement. She defied traditional women's roles and her Diary, written for 41 years, is considered the most intimate self-portrait of modern Croatian literature. (1812 – 1875).
Zofka Kveder
Ilustration: Sindy Čolić
Writer, journalist, and one of the first advocates for women’s emancipation in the Slavic region. In her first book, The Mystery of a Woman, she wrote about women's suffering, and in the first edition of Ženski svijet (Women’s World), magazine she founded in 1917, she demanded the right to vote for women. (1878 – 1926)
Iskra Grabul
Ilustration: Tamara Zabaznoska
Architect and artist. With her husband Jordan Grabul she created the massive 'Makedonium' memorial at Kruševo, commemorating the Ilinden Uprising and soldiers who gave their lives in the fight for Macedonian freedom. The memorial is considered to be one of the seven most interesting brutalist buildings in the world. (1936 – 2008)
Mimoza Nestorove-Tomić
Ilustration: Tamara Zabaznoska
Architect, planner, and urban designer, who played a significant role in the masterplan and reconstruction of Skopje after the 1963 earthquake. She worked as the director of the Institute of Planning and Architecture from 1986 until 1989, holding the most important state position in architecture. (1929)
Nasta Rojc
Ilustration: Tea Jurišić
One of the most important turn of the century Croatian artists, best known for her confident self-portraits. In 1927, she founded the first women’s art association in Croatia, which organized female group exhibitions in Zagreb. She openly lived with a woman and was historically marginalized because of that. (1883 – 1964)
Giuseppina Martinuzzi
Ilustration: Tea Jurišić
Socialist, feminist, pedagogue, and poet. Her work with children from the poorest working-class families sensitized her to social injustice and prepared her for later political action. As a socialist, she emphasized that the fight against fascism necessarily includes the fight against capitalism. (1844 – 1925)
Maude Delap
Ilustration: Tina Vukasović Đaković
A self-taught marine biologist and the first person to breed jellyfish in captivity. She bred them in bell jars and observed their full life cycle for the first time. Due to her pioneering work, the complex life cycles of these organisms, particularly between the medusa and hydra stages, were identified. (1866 – 1953).
Vinka Bulić
Ilustration: Tina Vukasović Đaković
Publicist, feminist, and an excellent chronicler of her time. She was a journalist for the Split daily Novo doba (New Age), one of the founders of the Women's Movement in Split in 1926 and its most active member. She was a mountaineer and ardent humanitarian, collecting aid for the poor children from the outskirts of Split. (1884 – 1965)
Rosa Plaveva
Ilustration: Xueh Magrini Troll
Socialist and one of the first women's rights activists in Macedonia. She organized the first demonstration for equality between the sexes in Skopje in 1908, and throughout her life urged Macedonian women to resist conservative social and patriarchal norms. Her local nickname was 'Deli Rosa', meaning 'Fierce Rosa'. (1878 – 1970)
Ljiljana Dirjan
Ilustration: Xueh Magrini Troll
Poet, journalist, and publicist that paved the way for other women poets and writers in Macedonia. As one of the founders and editors of Sarajevo Notebook (Sarajevske sveske) she was one of the most important figures that connected poets and writers in the region. (1953 – 2017)
Kata Pejnović
Ilustration: Zoran Cardula
As a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, she focused on reducing ethnic tensions between Serbs and Croats, political education of peasants of western Lika, and women's issues. She co-founded the women’s newspaper Žena u borbi (Woman in Struggle) and was the first president of the Antifascist Women’s Front. (1899 – 1966)
Lydia Sklevicky
Ilustration: Zoran Cardula
The first Croatian scholar to address the social history of women from a feminist perspective. She co-edited the first book of feminist anthropology in Yugoslavia, Towards an Anthropology of Woman. Her works were published posthumously in the book Horses, Women, Wars. (1952 – 1990)
Illustrations were between 22 9.- 25. 10. 2020 presented at the virtual exhibition Unforgettable: women who are moving the boundaries of our world (Vodnikova domačija)
The Women on Women (WOW) project, which we are implementing in cooperation with the K-zone (Croatia), Tiiiit! Inc. (Northern Macedonia) and the Outlandish Theater Platform (Ireland), strive to make female role models visible and to describe the stories of inspiring women. The project is supported by the Creative Europe program.
