Sehadete Mekuli

Sehadete Mekuli (16 October 1928 - 12 November 2013) was a Yugoslavian-born Albanian gynecologist, professor, and public figure. Wife of poet Esad Mekuli, she became well known for tending to the injured students of the 1981 protests in Kosovo, where Albanians demanded more autonomy within the Yugoslav federation, which inspired the character of Teuta Shkreli in Ismail Kadare's novel The Wedding Procession Turned to Ice (Albanian: Krushqit jane te ngrire).[1]

Biography

Mekuli was born Sehadete Doko in 16 October 1928 in Ochrid, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now in the Republic of Macedonia). She pursued secondary studies in 1947 in her native city and then studied medicine in the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, graduating in 7 January 1954. On April 1, 1954 she started to work in the Hospital of Pristina as a gynechologist and obstetritian. Mekuli specialized in gynechology in March 1960 in Belgrade. From 1960 until 1962 she was the Chief of the Gynechology and Obstetrics Pavilion of the Pristina Hospital. In 1963, for political reasons, she left the hospital and became Chief of the Dispensary (a public dispensary), within the House of Health of Pristina. In January 1968, she went back as Chief of the Gynechology and Obstetrics Pavilion in the Pristina Hospital.[2]

After the opening of the University of Pristina Mekuli was elected primarius of the School of Medicine which opened in 1970. She doctored at the University of Belgrade in 1973 and became an associate professor at the University of Pristina in 1976. Mekuli participated in the founding of the Association of Kosovo's Physicians and directed the publishing of Praxis medica, a medicine journal. Since 1972 she was director of the Gynechology Clinic within the School of Medicine of the University of Pristina.[2]

In 1981 Mekuli tended to the Albanian students injured by the police, during the 1981 protests in Kosovo, where the Albanians were demanding more autonomy within Yugoslavia. Her work and figure inspired the character of Teuta Shkreli in Ismail Kadare's novel The Wedding Procession Turned to Ice (Albanian: Krushqit jane te ngrire).[1]

Mekuli has published 31 articles in medicine journals.[2]

Personal life

Mekuli was the wife of Albanian poet Esad Mekuli (1916-1993). Sehadete Mekuli died in Pristina in November 12, 2013. She was survived by her two children.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Robert Elsie (15 November 2010). Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Scarecrow Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-8108-7483-1.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Kohaditore (12 November 2013). "Përcillet në shtëpinë e fundit Prof.dr. Sehadete Mekuli". Koha Ditore.