Joint issue Slovenia – Serbia

Joint issue Slovenia–Serbia

Two humanitarians: Queen Maria of Yugoslavia (1900–1961) and

her lady-in-waiting Franja Tavčar (1868–1938)

This special postage stamp issued jointly by Slovenia and Serbia is dedicated to two remarkable humanitarians – Queen Maria of Yugoslavia and Franja Tavčar. Their close friendship lasted from 1925 to 1938 and united them in selfless care for poor students, sick, infirm and abandoned women, prisoners of war and other detainees and, above all, children.

Queen Maria, born Princess Maria of Romania in Gotha, Thuringia, in 1900, was the wife of King Alexander I. After his tragic assassination in France in 1934, she continued her charitable activities with even greater determination. In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia she worked actively with the Yugoslav Red Cross Committee and the St. John Society (Društvo Sveti Jovan) and established a fund to assist poor and sick children and the elderly. In 1939 she fell ill and moved to the United Kingdom, where during the Second World War she sent aid to occupied Yugoslavia through the International Committee of the Red Cross in London. Using the alias Mary Djordjevic, she assisted more than 200,000 detainees, prisoners of war and internees across Europe. She died in the United Kingdom in 1961 and in 2013 her remains were reinterred in St George’s Church in Oplenac, Serbia.

Franja Tavčar, née Košenini, was born in Ljubljana in 1868 and was orphaned at an early age, a circumstance which marked the course of her life. As the wife of the writer and politician Ivan Tavčar, she devoted her wealth to charitable work. She headed the Ljubljana Women’s Association and was active in the Cyril and Methodius Society, the General Slovene Women’s Association and the Sokol Women’s Gymnastic Society. She paid particular attention to the education of socially disadvantaged girls and supported the establishment of the Mladika society and the Girls’ Lyceum. Through the Red Cross she assisted the warring Balkan nations and in 1910 was awarded the Order of St Sava of the Kingdom of Serbia. In 1925 she became lady-in-waiting to Queen Maria and, the same year, founded and oversaw the Children’s and Mothers’ Home in Ljubljana, provided care for abandoned mothers and sick children and enabled them to recuperate at her seaside house in Kraljevica. She arranged the construction of the Jozefišče, a home for infirm women, and at her home in Ljubljana provided lunches for poor students and supported artists, including Josip Murn, Ivana Kobilca, Ivan Vavpotič and others. In 1928 she became the first woman to be honoured as a distinguished citizen of Ljubljana. She died in Ljubljana in 1938 and is buried in the Tavčar family tomb at Visoko in Poljane Valley, above Škofja Loka.

Janez Cerkvenik, Lovro Košir Philatelic Society, Škofja Loka