Eleonora Jenko Groyer facts for kids

Eleonora Jenko Groyer (born 1879, died 1959) was a very important Slovenian doctor. She is famous for being the first woman from Slovene Lands to become a physician. This was a big achievement for women in her time!

Early Life and Education

Eleonora Jenko was born on February 15, 1879, in Ljubljana. At that time, Ljubljana was part of Austria-Hungary. Her family was very well-educated. Her father, Ludvik Jenko, was also a doctor. Her mother, Terezija Jenko, had studied in Ljubljana, Bavaria, and Moscow.

Eleonora's mother helped her husband in his medical office. Both parents were active in Slovene culture. They supported the idea of Pan-Slavism, which meant they wanted Slavic people to be united. Eleonora was the oldest of four children. All her siblings went on to higher education. Her sister Ana became the first Slovene woman with a science doctorate.

Eleonora finished her first school years with the Ursulines in Ljubljana. Her parents wanted her to go to college. However, local girls' schools did not prepare students for university. So, Eleonora was sent to the Maria Alexandrovna Institute for Girls in Cetinje. Her parents liked Russia and knew a medical school for women was opening in Saint Petersburg.

After graduating, Eleonora moved to Russia. She wanted to start medical studies right away. But her schooling had not included Latin. This was a problem for medical school. So, in 1897, she joined the Philosophy faculty instead. The next year, she passed a Latin exam and switched to medical studies.

Her medical studies lasted 10 semesters. They were interrupted twice. First, she got typhus, a serious illness. Later, her studies stopped for two years because of the Russo-Japanese War. During the war, she worked at a military hospital in Moscow. This hospital cared for women and children.

Eleonora finished her studies on February 14, 1907. She passed her oral and practical tests. This made her the first Slovene woman to earn a medical degree. In December of that year, she married Friederik Groyer. He was an Austrian doctor and naval officer. He had a medical office in Klimkovice, a spa town. Eleonora started working there as his assistant. In May 1908, their daughter Jolanda was born.

Medical Career and Challenges

Later, Eleonora Jenko Groyer worked as an unpaid doctor in a state hospital in Ljubljana. She had special permission from the government. Her husband had moved to Matulji. Eleonora helped with women's health operations. She even performed some operations herself.

In 1911, the government officially recognized her medical degree. She was allowed to open her own medical office. This happened even though some members of parliament were against it. However, she was not allowed to use the title "dr." because her degree was not "nostrified" (fully recognized as equal to local degrees). She then joined her husband in the Austrian Littoral. She opened a private practice in Opatija.

In Opatija, she only treated women patients. Some important people, like the painter Lea von Littrow, supported her. They helped her in her fight for professional recognition.

Her first private practice ended when World War I started. Tourism in Opatija stopped. Eleonora Jenko Groyer returned to Ljubljana. She was put in charge of giving smallpox vaccinations. Later, she provided general medical services in the Grosuplje area. Her husband became a military doctor in Pula.

After the war, Eleonora faced more problems. The new country, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, made it hard for her to get her degree recognized. She had to take extra exams at the University of Zagreb. Even after getting all the needed qualifications, she was often denied state jobs. So, she had to keep working in private practice. Her husband also worked in Ljubljana for a while. But he disappeared from records in the late 1920s. What happened to him after that is not known.

Eleonora Jenko Groyer also wrote articles to earn more money. She wrote for a women's magazine called Ženski svet. Between 1930 and 1935, she published 18 articles about women's health. Even though she faced money problems, she helped other doctors. She gave a loan to the Ljubljana medical association to help colleagues who were in trouble before World War II. During the war, she helped the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation by giving free medical care and donating medical supplies.

After the war, she was again denied a job. This happened even though there was a shortage of doctors. Some believed it was because of her pro-Russian background. However, in 1953, she was given a state pension. She passed away in 1959 in Ljubljana.