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Jelena Brajša
Jelena (Jelka) Brajša (18 August 1935 – 5 November 2021) was a Croatian humanitarian[1] and social worker, long-term president of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Zagreb (1966–2005).[1][2][3][4] She helped in establishment of several reception centers and homes for abandoned children, handicapped, old and infirm.[1] She has been working on collecting aid for war victims during the Croatian War of Independence.[1][4] She was known as "The Angel of Zagreb"[5] and "Croatian Mother Teresa".[6] Early life and educationShe was born in Zagreb in 1935 as a youngest, thirteenth child in the Catholic family.[5] Her father was jurist.[5] She attended elementary and middle school in Zagreb.[2] With the establishment of the communist Yugoslavia, her family was labeled as a "class enemy" and she was prevented from studying.[5] In 1958 she went to Vienna, where she studied social work and religious pedagogy at the Seminar für kirchliche Frauenberufe, with the scholarship granted to her by the cardinal Franz König.[5][6] She further educated in Paris and Lourdes.[1][2] Humanitarian workCardinal Franjo Šeper appointed her in 1966 as a director of the Caritas of the Archdiocese of Zagreb.[2][3] She suffered several public attacks for her caritative work.[5] The communist authorities labeled her activities as "illegal work".[6] Although Caritas was not recognized by the Yugoslav authorities, social workers and police officers referred mothers with children to Brajša and Caritas' workers or brought them abandoned children.[7][8] Under her organization, Caritas had about 260 employees, 33 houses and institutions where about 400 children and 200 adults are housed.[9] She worked in Caritas for 39.5 years.[7] She was also long-term president of the Humanitarian Network of Croatia (HMH).[9] She was editor-in-chief of the Betanija ("Bethany") magazine (hr), Archdiocese of Zagreb's magazine for patients. Besides native Croatian, she also spoke German and French language.[7] Abandoned childrenFrom July 6, 1969, when she took care of the first abandoned child, until her death in 2021, Zagreb's Caritas took care of more than 5,000 abandoned children.[10] After Glas Koncila published about the case of the first received child, from July to December 1969 Zagreb's Caritas received 70 unwanted or abandoned children.[7] From 1969 to 1990, Brajša and her co-workers from Caritas housed abandoned newborns at the Archbishop's House at Kaptol, Zagreb.[7] Carmelite nuns from Vrhovec also took care of some infants.[7][8] Daughters of Divine Charity also took care of the children and their education.[8] The first house for around twenty abandoned children was opened in Vugrovec.[7] In 1983, the centre for occupational therapy and rehabilitation "St. Vincent de Paul" was opened in Oborovo.[8] In 1991, abandoned newborn and infants were relocated from Kaptol to a newly opened house in Savica-Šanci.[8] In 1994, with the financial aid of Austrian Caritas and foreign donors,[7] Caritas home for children victims of war was opened in Brezovica.[8] Personal lifeShe adopted four children who bear her family name and three more children whom she took in but who she did not officially adopt.[9] The oldest adopted child is Tomislav Brajša,[11] musician and singer.[9] He was born in a hospital in Pula, where his biological mother left him. Although he was not born blind, due to the negligence of the doctors he went blind in the incubator.[7] Her youngest adopted son Tomi Brajša, born without both legs,[7] is a paraswimmer and he competed for Croatia at the 2021 Summer Paralympics.[12] In February 2004, she was operated on for a brain tumor.[7] AwardsShe received several awards for her work:[9]
Remembrance
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