Academician Nada Milošević Đorđević passed away

It is with great regret that the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts informs the public of the passing of Prof. Dr Nada Milošević Đorđević, aged 87 (b. Belgrade, 2 December 1934) on 27 July 2021, its full member of the Department of Languages and Literature. She was one of our most distinguished contemporary Serbian folklorists in the world and a prominent scholar of Serbian folk literature.

The life of Nada Milošević Đorđević was mainly linked to the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, where she received her BA, MA and PhD, followed by her work as a full professor at the Department of Serbian Literature until her retirement. She was a visiting professor at various foreign universities. She wrote a great number of papers and books in the field of folk literature.

In 2003, she was elected a corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and its full member in 2012. As the president of the SASA Board for Folk Literature, she organized a scientific conference on Vuk Karadžić. She was a member of several expert associations some of which are: Matica Srpska Department of Literature and Language, European Society of Culture (Société Européenne de Culture – SEC); Society of Serbian Language and Literature of Serbia; Folklore Fellow at the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters; International Society for Folk Narrative Research; Association of Serbian Writers… She particularly contributed to the work of the Vuk Karadžić Endowment. She was also one of the founders and director of the International Centre for Slavic Studies of Serbia.

In addition to these, she was a member of editorial boards of Srpska enciklopedija [Serbian Encyclopedia], the edition Studija o Srbima [Study on the Serbs]; Prilozi za književnost, istoriju i folklor; Annals of the Faculty of Philology, Oral tradition, Danica, Vuk’s Festival Library.  She received multiple awards, such as Vuk’s Charter for research of national culture and educational heritage; Honorary Member Recognition of the Serbian Society of Slavists; Mila Nedeljković Lifetime Achievement Recognition; Mladen Leskovac Award of Matica Srpska; ‘Golden Serbian Literature’ Award of Aleksandar Arnautović Fund for ‘extraordinary achievement in the research of literary Serbian science’, etc.

Her great desire was to complete four volumes on the female members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts from its founding to modern times. Unfortunately, she died before seeing the first volume which has just been published.

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