Hannah Jessie Hankin-Hardy, in medical and humanitarian mission in Serbia during the great war

• Main Author: Popović-Filipović Slavica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Oncology, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia 2010-01-01
• Series: Archive of Oncology
• Subjects: Famous Persons; History of Medicine; History, 20th Century; World War I; Physicians; Medical Missions; Official; Serbia Non MeSH Hannah Hankin-Hardy
• Online Access: http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0354-7310/2010/0354-73101004136P.pdf

The Studenica Monastery, built in 1186 A.D., the royal mausoleum of the Nemanjic Dynasty, is considered the forerunner of the Serbian statehood and conscience because in it the first school and hospital were established. It is also where the first book was written in Serbian language. Studenica, as the cradle of the Serbian medicine, produced - and through the following eight centuries, nurtured many educators and iconic figures of the Serbian cultural tradition. Among them was St. Sava, the first Serbian Archbishop, whose name is also borne by one of the highest Serbian civilian orders, which is awarded for extreme dedication and philanthropy in Serbia and worldwide. This here is an attempt to preserve the memory of the philanthropist Hannah Henkin Hardy, who was also personally awarded one of these Serbian orders. Hannah Henkin Hardy (1886-1944) was born in Worchester, U.K., completed a medical school in Melbourne, Australia, and arrived in Serbia in January 1915 together with the first Scottish Women's Hospitals. In Kragujevac, together with the Serbian physicians, and the 'Kolo srpskih sestara,' Mrs. Hardy established the League of Serbian Women to jointly fight the great typhus epidemic. She also founded the out-patients ambulances for the poor in Kragujevac, as well as the soup kitchens, and took part in various humanitarian activities. Mrs. Hardy and her husband Samuel Hardy, together with some other philanthropists, repaired the war-damaged Church of St. George in Topola. She joined the Serbian refugees in their escape from the invading enemy forces to the Adriatic Coast through the dangerous snowbound mountains of Albania and Montenegro. She remembered the suffering of the Serbian people and the dedicated humanitarian activities of the Serbian medical corps and foreign medical missions for the rest of her life. Mrs. and Mr. Hardy dedicated their lives to philanthropy and humanitarian work, helping small and suffering peoples and nations.