Roza Papo

Roza Papo (1914–1984) was a Bosnian physician and general of the Yugoslav People's Army. She was the first woman to rise to the rank of general on the Balkan Peninsula.

Early life Roza Papo was born on 6 February 1914 into a Sephardi Jewish family in Sarajevo. Her mother, Mirjama Papo (born Abinun), was the daughter of a rabbi from Gračanica.

Roza Papo studied at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb in Croatia and worked as physician in Sarajevo, Begov Han and Olovo before the outbreak of the Second World War. Papo officially joined the Partisans in December 1941. The following year, she also became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. During the war, she contracted typhus, and during a battle in Ozren in 1942, she was slightly wounded in the face by an airplane bomb.

As an officer, Papo served directly under Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav resistance. She led the recruitment system and commanded the network of the different Partisan field hospitals.

Post-war career The Partisans emerged victorious from the Second World War in 1945, but Papo's parents and both siblings had been killed.

Papo received six medals for her contributions, Yugoslavia at the time had more Jewish generals than Israel, and Papo was the first woman general in all the Balkans. As such, she was affectionately known as "the general with braids".

Papo had a son, who died in 1969, and a daughter. She died on 25 February 1984 in Belgrade.

Decorations Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 Order of Bravery (October 1944) Order of Merits for the People (1952) Order of the Yugoslav Army - II degree (1956) Order of Brotherhood and Unity - II degree (1960) Order of Military Merit with a Big Star (I degree) (1971)