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Tomanija Bogičević
(1796-1881)

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Considered beautiful and intelligent, Tomanija was also an ambitious woman, involved with plenty of court intrigues and it was rumoured that her aim was to install her own descendants as the rulers of Serbia.  She was one of her husband's most trusted advisors and when she moved to Sabac with him, she helped vitalise the town (as they did with Belgrade when they later moved there), and the house her husband built there became the centre of cultural life and a salon frequented by artists and intellectuals.  After her husband's death, and that of her brother-in-law Prince Milos in 1860, she became the most senior member of the ruling family.  But she was considered by this stage a shallow, self-centred woman as she continued to preoccupy herself with court intrigues, and was eager for her granddaughter, Katarina Konstantinović, to marry her cousin Prince Mihaly Obrenović, a plan that was to have grave consequences.  She was with her daughter Anka and Prince Mihaly in the park when they were assassinated, and was the only one not injured.  Still, her hunger for power did not wane as she saw the marriage of Katarina to the regent Milivoje Petrović Blaznavac.  She did not live long enough to see her grandson Milan become king of Serbia.

Place of birth: Jarebice, Jadar
Place of burial: Rakovica monastery church

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Sources

1. T. Loš. Tomanija Obrenović - prva dama slobodne Srbije. Novosti, 12 February, 2015.