Milica Jakovljević | Origin of Street Names

Milica Jakovljević Mir-Jam (1887 - 1952) was a Serbian writer and journalist, best known for her sentimental love stories and novels that brought her great popularity in the 1930s in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and secured her a place in the anthology of Serbian literature.

She was born in Jagodina as the ninth child of her father Jakov Jakovljević and would later turn out to be the older sister of Stevan Jakovljević, who also became a successful writer and academic. Due to her father's civil service, she spent her childhood moving from Jagodina to Knjaževac, Kragujevac, and finally to Belgrade, where she completed her Higher Women's Gymnasium education.

One of the educated women of her time, she was also described by contemporaries as a true beauty, coming from a good family, with a poised demeanor and good manners. She spoke French and Russian fluently, loved theater, and had an interest in journalism. She began her career in journalism after the end of World War I, writing for "Novosti," "Glas," and "Nedeljne ilustracije" under the pseudonym Mir Jam. In her feuilletons and articles, she often addressed the position of women in society, making her one of the first feminists in our region alongside Maga Magazinović.

During the interwar period, her "engaging" and easily readable novels became popular throughout the Kingdom. By predominantly exploring sentimental themes related to the lives of the middle class in Yugoslavia, love, marriage, and family relationships became the main leitmotif of Mir Jam's literary work. Despite criticism often labeling them as "saccharine" and lacking significant literary value, Milica Jakovljević's novels became a true hit among female readers and continue to be popular to this day. Hence the flattering title of the Yugoslav Jane Austen.

Among the most popular works are "The Wounded Eagle," "Her Mother's Sin," "A Bachelor in Marriage," "Invincible Heart," "One Night on the Adriatic," and others, some of which have been adapted into popular TV series. Her repertoire also includes the theater drama "Far Away," in which the legendary Žanka Stokić played the leading role.

During the occupation and the Second World War, Milica Jakovljević spent her time in Belgrade, living a very secluded life. She refused several offers to write for collaborationist newspapers in Belgrade, not wanting to compromise her family name or the reputation of her brother Stevan, who earned the title of "Solunac" in the Great War and held the rank of major in the Army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

However, this stance did not bring her any good even after the war. Labeled as a bourgeois writer by the new authorities, despite her significant pre-war popularity and relatively innocuous themes, she was rejected in the new Yugoslavia without official explanation. She lost her journalist status and the opportunity to find employment in any of the numerous newly established newspapers. Even her brother Stevan, who showed sympathy towards the new regime after the war, was unable to provide significant assistance.

Although she wrote extensively about love and marriage throughout her life, Milica Jakovljević never married or started a family. She lived a difficult and reclusive life and passed away from a lung disease at the age of 65. Her death went unnoticed by the newspapers.

In literary terms and in public perception, she was only rehabilitated in the 1970s when reprints of her novels began to be published. Numerous television series have been based on her works, and in recent years, a street in Ripanj has symbolically been named after her, Milica Jakovljević Street.