Academician Desanka Kovačević Kojić passed away

It is with great sadness that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts announces that a full member of the SASA Department of Historical Sciences Desanka Kovačević Kojić (b. Sarajevo, 3 October 1925) passed away on 13 August 2022, at age 97. She was one of our most distinguished historians, who particularly contributed to the study of our medieval history.

She graduated in historical sciences from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade, in 1950. She defended a doctoral thesis titled ’Trade in Medieval Bosnia’. The following year, she spent furthering her professional development at the École Pratique des Hautes Études at Sorbonne, under the mentorship of Professor Fernand Braudel.

Following the completion of basic studies, she was elected an assistant at the Faculty of Sarajevo (1950). She was elected to all positions on this faculty, and in 1969, she was elected a full professor of the course titled The History of the People of Yugoslavia in Middle Ages. She conducted scientific research at the Historical Archives in Dubrovnik for years, as well as in libraries and archives of Venice, Florence and Milan. Several thematic units were of interest to her studies, with the most frequent ones being; trade, mining and the cities of medieval Serbia and Bosnia, as well as their economic connections with Dubrovnik and the Mediterranean.

As a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she was elected in 1975, and in 1981 a full member. She was elected a full member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts on 27 October 1994, and she delivered her accession speech entitled ‘Trade Ledger Books of the Kabužić Brothers – a Sourcebook for the Economy of the Serbian State’ on 31 May 1995. She participated in the foundation of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska (1993), becoming an external member in 1996. In the period 1979-2004, she was a permanent member and associate of the Commission Internationale pour Ll’Histoire des Villes, after which she continued her participation in the work of the Commission as an honorary member. She was a long-standing member of various scientific boards in the field of history, as well as a member of the editorial boards of expert journals.

With her multifaceted and extensive scientific work, she greatly contributed to the development of national historical science, particularly medieval studies. She published over 100 scientific papers, essays and reviews in domestic and foreign scientific journals. She authored numerous historical studies and monographs, with the following standing out:  Bosnia and Herzegovina in Middle Ages (Sarajevo, 1954), Trade in Medieval Bosnia (Sarajevo, 1961), Town Settlements of Medieval Bosnian State (Sarajevo, 1978) Trade Ledger Books of the Kabužić Brothers (Caboga): 1426–1433, (Belgrade, 1999), City Life in Serbia and Bosnia (XIV-XV centuries) (Belgrade, 2007), Medieval Srebrenica: XIV-XV centuries (Belgrade, 2010), La Serbia et Les pays Serbes: L’économie Urbaine: XIVe–XVe siècles (Belgrade, 2012). For her longtime successful scientific work, she received numerous awards and recognitions, some of which are the Veselin Masleša Award; the 27th of July Award of Bosnia and Herzegovina for science as well as Vladimir Ćorović Award for life achievement (2002).

Her passing is a great loss for the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the overall Serbian science.