Iva Despić-Simonović

She was the first sculptor in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and the only one in the interwar period, but faded into obscurity after the World War II.

Her in-laws, the Despić family, were prominent and wealthy merchants, and she felt repressed by their patriarchal attitude.

She took part in collective exhibitions in London, Belgrade, Barcelona, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Prague, Brno and Bratislava.

Despić-Simonović recalled that her skill became the talk of the court when Crown Prince Peter, then a toddler, came into her atelier and recognized the bust she was working on as depicting General Stevan Hadžić.

[2][4] Other well-known works include the sculptures Children in the Snow (1923), Good Friends (1923), and Bato is Playing (1925), as well as the plaque Consolation (1927).

[1] Bosnian women at that time were mostly illiterate and took no part in public life, but Despić-Simonović's career flourished and she was well known in society.

According to her daughter, the family had to hide the cow from soldiers in her atelier, and the distressed animal damaged a number of sculptures.

As a supporter of the exiled royal family, Despić-Simonović was arrested in June 1945 and spent some time imprisoned in Sarajevo.

[3] Her most notable works following the Second World War are the busts of poets Aleksa Šantić, Svetozar Ćorović and Osman Đikić, ordered by the authorities of Mostar.

The house was restored in 2005 by a new owner, and at that time a number of previously unknown plaster busts were found behind hidden basement doors.