Sehadete Mekuli

Sehadete Mekuli (16 October 1928 – 12 November 2013), also spelled Sadete Mekuli, was a Yugoslavian-born Albanian gynecologist, professor, and public figure. She became known for tending to the injured students of the 1981 protests in Kosovo, when Albanians demanded more autonomy within the Yugoslav federation. As a result of her actions, she was denied a full professorship at the University of Pristina School of Medicine and was forced into early retirement in 1988. She is the inspiration for the character of Teuta Shkreli in Ismail Kadare's 1985 novel The Wedding Procession Turned to Ice .

Biography She was born Sehadete Doko on 16 October 1928 in Koroshishta, Struga, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now in North 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 on 7 January 1954. On 1 April 1954, she started to work in the Hospital of Pristina as a gynecologist and obstetrician. Mekuli specialized in gynecology in March 1960 in Belgrade. From 1960 until 1962 she was the Chief of the Gynecology 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 returned to her position as Chief of the Gynecology and Obstetrics Pavilion in the Pristina Hospital. She also developed a lecture series for schools and dormitories to improve the health education of girls. and siding with the students in their demands as well. Because of her actions, the University of Pristina refused to promote her to full professor, and she was forced into early retirement in October 1988.

Personal life Mekuli was the wife of Albanian poet Esad Mekuli (1916–1993). She died in Pristina in November 12, 2013 and was survived by her two children.