Maga Magazinović

Maga Magazinović (1882–1968) was a librarian and journalist, the first woman who brought modern dance to Serbia and fundamental struggle for gender equality. She was born in Užice in 1882. She was the first woman journalist in Politika newspaper where she wrote articles on rhythm and forms of physical and spiritual education of youth, especially young women. She was also the first woman to graduate from the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade in 1904. For forty years Maga was professor of philosophy, German and Serbian language in the First female gymnasium. Maga Magazinović was also the first woman librarian in the National Library of Serbia and the first woman who was a journalist by vocation.

The history of Marija Magda Magazinović's family is a history of migrations in Serbian lands. Her mother Stana, born Isailović, was from Derventa, Bosnia, while on her father's side, their orignal name was Smiljanić (before it curiously morphed into Magazinović), and they hailed from Metković. It was from there that they moved to Trebinje, then to Mostar, and from there to Užice, where Magda was born, and after that, her last permanent residence was Belgrade.

She is one of the principal subjects of the essay collection No Man's Lands: eight extraordinary women in Balkan history, by the British-Kosovan writers Elizabeth Gowing and Robert Wilton.