Helen Losanitch Frothingham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Helen Losanitch Frothingham
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| Јелена Лозанић | |
Frothingham, 1921
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| Born |
Jelena Lozanić
12 March 1885 |
| Died | 6 February 1972 (aged 86) France
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| Nationality | Serbian |
| Other names | Helen Frothingham, Helen Losanitch, Ellen Losanitch, Helène Losanitch, Jelena Lozanić Frothingham |
| Occupation | humanitarian activist, nurse, suffragist |
| Years active | 1910-1950s |
| Spouse(s) |
John W. Frothingham
(m. 1921; died 1935) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives |
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| Family | Vučić-Perišić family |
Helen Losanitch Frothingham (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Лозанић Фротингхам; born March 12, 1885 – died February 6, 1972) was a brave Serbian woman who worked to help others. She was a humanitarian, which means she cared about people's well-being. She also supported women's rights, was a nurse, and a writer.
During World War I, Helen traveled from Serbia to the United States. Her goal was to get help and supplies for soldiers and children who had lost their parents. After the war, she opened a home for children in Guéthary, France. This home cared for children who had lost their families during the Spanish Civil War. For all her important work, Helen received Serbia's highest award, the Order of the White Eagle.
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Early Life and Family
Helen Losanitch was born Jelena Lozanić on March 12, 1885, in Belgrade, which was then the Kingdom of Serbia. Her parents were Stanka Pačić and Sima Lozanić. Her father was a very important person in Serbia. He was a chemist, the head of the Serbian Royal Academy, and the first leader of the University of Belgrade. He also worked as a government minister and a diplomat.
Helen was the youngest of three children. Her older brother, Milivoje S. Lozanić, became a chemist like their father. Her sister, Ana, became a well-known painter.
Working for Change: Helen's Activism
Helping Women and Children
In 1910, Helen became a secretary for the National Serbian Women's Alliance. This group worked to support women in Serbia. That same year, she went to a big meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was called The Second International Conference of Socialist Women. Helen represented the Serbian Women's Council there.
In 1911, Helen attended another important meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. This was the 6th Congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA). At this meeting, she learned a lot about how important education was for women. She also saw how women's issues were connected to teaching in Serbia.
Nursing During the Balkan Wars
Between 1912 and 1913, during the Balkan Wars, Helen worked at an orphanage called "Saint Helena." She also took a nursing course. This helped her care for wounded soldiers at a recovery center in Vračar.
In February 1913, Helen wrote a letter explaining why the National Serbian Women's Alliance could not send people to an IWSA meeting in Budapest. There had been a problem between Hungary and Serbia earlier that year. She signed the letter as Ellen, though her name was also shown in Cyrillic and French as Helène Losanitch.
Helping During World War I
When World War I started in 1914, Austria invaded Serbia. Helen and her family had to leave their home and go to Niš, which became the wartime capital. She worked at a hospital there.
In November 1914, the Serbian Red Cross chose Helen to go to the United States. Her mission was to get humanitarian aid, like food and medicine, for Serbia. She traveled across the U.S. and Canada in early 1915.
Helen returned to Serbia to join her family in a difficult journey. They were part of the Albanian retreat, crossing the Prokletije Mountains. After this, Helen started an organization called the Serbian Child Welfare association.
Between 1915 and 1920, Helen made three more trips to North and South America. She worked hard to raise money and gather supplies for refugees. She brought food, clothes, and medical items to fight diseases like typhus and tuberculosis. She also worked with groups in California and northern France to get cows and grain for Serbian farmers.
Back in Serbia, Helen helped set up hospitals in different places. After the war ended, she was put in charge of the State Assistance Committee. Her main focus was creating homes for children who had lost their parents in the war.
Marriage and Continued Humanitarian Work
Helen went back to the United States and met John Whipple Frothingham. He was an American Red Cross worker who had been in Serbia. They started working together. They opened the Frothingham Children's Institute in Serbia and also founded the Serbo-American Institute of Serbia. In 1920, Helen was given the Order of the White Eagle, Serbia's highest award, for her amazing humanitarian efforts.
Helen and John got engaged and married on January 3, 1921. They had two wedding ceremonies, one in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. After they married, they kept working on projects to help people. They lived part of the year in Greenburgh, New York, where their daughter Anna was born in 1923. They also spent part of the year at their home in Guéthary, France.
During the Spanish Civil War, Helen and John used their home in Guéthary as a children's home. It was a place where children who had been separated from their families could stay and hopefully be reunited. Both Helen's father and her husband passed away in 1935. After this, Helen and her daughter Anna moved back to Greenburgh.
In 1941, Helen started a new group called the Committee of American Friends of Yugoslavia. This group later became the Yugoslav Relief Fund. In the late 1940s, she moved her home to Greenwich, Connecticut. She continued to travel between the United States and France. In 1970, she published a book called Mission for Serbia: Letters from America and Canada. This book was a collection of letters she had sent to her family during her six years of war relief work in World War I.
Death and Legacy
Helen Losanitch Frothingham passed away in France on February 6, 1972. She is remembered in Serbia as a wonderful example of someone who loved her country and dedicated her life to helping others.
