Pioneers in White Coats: An Introduction
Research into local history often reminds us just how many fascinating stories remain untold—stories of people, events, and contributions that have quietly shaped the places we live in. Far too often, historical inquiry focuses on prominent men, leaving the achievements of women in the margins. Yet, in both recent and distant past, countless women have made lasting contributions across various fields. All it takes is curiosity and commitment—and the results can be profound.
This part of the project turns the spotlight to the lives and legacies of women doctors who made an extraordinary impact on healthcare in Tuzla during the Austro-Hungarian administration. At a time when physicians were scarce, and female doctors even more so, these women committed themselves not only to healing, but also to educating and empowering local women—especially those who, for cultural and religious reasons, avoided being treated by male doctors. For many Muslim women in Tuzla, these female physicians were the only hope. They were more than just medical professionals; they were trusted allies, educators, and friends.
What makes their stories even more remarkable is that most of them came from Poland. Leaving behind their homes and families, they ventured into the unfamiliar—driven not by material gain, but by a profound ethical calling. Their work reflects a rare blend of courage, empathy, and professional excellence.
This is the story of three such women—Anna Bayerová, Teodora Krajewska, and Jadwiga Olszewska—whose white coats became symbols of care, trust, and transformation in Tuzla’s medical history.
Anna Bayerová: The First Woman Doctor in Tuzla
Anna Bayerová, born on November 4, 1853, in Vojtěchov near Mělník (Bohemia), holds a unique place in medical history as the first female physician to practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Coming from a modest background—her father worked in a brewery and later ran a café—Bayerová pursued education with remarkable determination. After completing secondary education in Prague, she began medical studies in Zurich but was forced to pause due to financial difficulties. She resumed her education at the University of Bern, where she earned her doctorate in 1881 with a dissertation in gynecology.
Portrait of Anna Bayerová by Jan Vilímek (Source: Humoristické listy, Volume 31/1889, No. 23, p. 205).
To further develop her expertise, she trained at renowned gynecological clinics in Dresden, Prague, and Paris, and gained experience in German and Swiss sanatoriums. Facing obstacles in having her degree recognized within Austria-Hungary, she successfully passed state medical exams in Berlin and opened a private practice there. She worked in Berlin until 1891, when she was appointed as an official district physician in Bosnia.
Before arriving, she met with Benjamin Kállay, Austro-Hungarian Minister of Finance, who emphasized that female doctors were expected not only to provide medical care but also to serve as educators and role models in the region. On January 8, 1892, Anna Bayerová officially assumed her position in Tuzla in a public ceremony attended by civil authorities and religious leaders—a moment widely reported in the press.
Her work in Tuzla was both groundbreaking and grueling. In her first three months alone, she treated 294 women—many of whom had never before received professional medical care. She offered not only physical treatment but a sense of dignity and trust to women who had previously been isolated from public health services due to social and religious norms.
From the personal file of Dr. Anna Bayerová (Source: Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ZMF, No. 4121/1892).
But Tuzla was not easy. Bayerová worked in challenging conditions, far from the support of professional networks and familiar surroundings. She fell ill multiple times—with influenza, diphtheria, and eventually, the looming fear of tuberculosis. In August 1892, she requested and received a transfer to Sarajevo. However, due to personal obligations and persistent health issues, she applied for release from service and returned to her homeland on January 30, 1893—after spending exactly 13 months in Bosnia.
Though her stay was brief, her legacy was profound. Bayerová helped establish the early foundations of women’s healthcare services in Bosnia, assessed the medical, economic, and social realities on the ground, and demonstrated through her responsible and effective work that the presence of women doctors was not only valuable—but necessary. She opened the door for other women physicians who followed in her footsteps.
After leaving Bosnia, she spent most of her professional life in Switzerland, where she continued practicing medicine. She also wrote articles on medicine, hygiene, and her experiences abroad, translated scientific literature, and actively campaigned for women’s rights and against alcoholism.
Anna Bayerová passed away in Prague on January 24, 1924. Though her time in Bosnia was short, she remains a defining figure in its medical history—a pioneer whose courage, skill, and compassion set a precedent that others would carry forward.
Teodora Krajewska: A Doctor, a Pioneer, a Witness
Teodora Krajewska was born in Warsaw in 1854 into a modest but educated family. Her father was a school administrator, and her early life was shaped by discipline and intellectual ambition. After completing a teacher’s training program, she spent several years teaching mathematics. But her life took a profound turn after the death of her husband, Anton Krajewski, a high school professor. In her early thirties, Teodora made a bold decision: she would become a physician.
She enrolled at the University of Geneva in 1883—one of the few European institutions at the time that admitted women—and completed her medical degree in 1892, specializing in gynecology and public health. But upon returning to Russian-occupied Poland, she was confronted with the harsh reality that her foreign degree would not be recognized. Instead of yielding to bureaucracy, she looked elsewhere—and found opportunity in Bosnia, a province under Austro-Hungarian administration, where the need for female doctors was urgent and unmet.
Dr. Teodora Krajewska, portrait taken at the M. Schultheis photography studio in Tuzla. (Source: Historical Museum of Kraków)
In 1893, Krajewska arrived alone in Tuzla, stepping into an unfamiliar environment. Her official appointment as a district physician was delayed due to administrative formalities in Vienna, but on March 20 of that year, she was in Tuzla, ready to work. She quickly realized that her greatest challenge would not be medical, but cultural. Most of her potential patients—particularly Muslim women—had never seen a doctor, and many refused even to show their faces. Gaining trust was a slow and sensitive process. As part of her official duties, she provided free treatment to patients in her own home and made house calls under conditions most doctors would have considered impossible.
Postcard showing the Grand Hotel in Tuzla, where Dr. Teodora Krajewska stayed upon her arrival. (Source: Archives of Tuzla Canton – ATKT, ZT Z)
Despite the barriers, her work spoke louder than any title. In six years of service in Tuzla, she treated nearly 4,739 patients—most of them women and children. She dealt with a broad spectrum of illnesses: gynecological issues, metabolic and blood disorders, respiratory infections, digestive diseases, venereal illnesses, and even surgical cases and poisoning. She delivered babies, assisted during postpartum crises, and navigated communities that were deeply wary of outsiders, especially assertive women in positions of authority. Her work was often the last resort for the sick and the poor, those for whom modern medicine was foreign and, at first, unwelcome.
Dr. Teodora Krajewska, portrait taken at the M. Schultheis photography studio in Tuzla. (Source: Historical Museum of Kraków)
She also made important contributions to medical science. Krajewska was the first to identify the presence of osteomalacia—a bone-softening disease—among Muslim women in Bosnia. She presented her findings at the Geneva Medical Congress in 1896, drawing international attention to a condition that had been largely overlooked. In addition to her clinical work, she carried out vaccination campaigns in remote and hard-to-reach villages across the Tuzla and Sarajevo regions, helping to control outbreaks of infectious diseases.
Krajewska chronicled these experiences in vivid detail in her personal writings, later published as Bosnia in the Memories of a Polish Doctor. Through her words, we witness not only medical encounters but also the daily realities of life in late 19th-century Bosnia—its customs, poverty, beauty, and contradictions. She did not romanticize the hardship. She wrote of homes filled with smoke, of children dying from preventable diseases, of women begging for help in silence. Yet she also recorded gratitude, courage, and slow but real change.
Dr. Teodora Krajewska, portrait taken at Schadler photography studio in Sarajevo. (Source: Historical Museum of Kraków)
Her success in Tuzla led to a transfer to Sarajevo on October 1, 1899, where she remained for nearly three decades. In the capital, she continued to push boundaries. She trained nurses, introduced hygiene education in schools, and advocated for better hospital conditions. She also lectured at both public and private girls’ schools and took an active role in cultural activities alongside members of the Polish community in Bosnia. But with visibility came scrutiny. She was monitored by imperial authorities, criticized for her outspokenness, and faced opposition from elite donors when she questioned how aid was being distributed. Undeterred, she organized independent relief campaigns, proving again and again that her loyalty was to people—not institutions.
She also participated in international medical congresses, where she raised awareness about the unique health challenges of women in the Balkans. Her activism often placed her at odds with traditional hierarchies, but it never silenced her. Her medical work was inseparable from her feminist and humanitarian values.
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Letter written by Dr. Teodora Krajewska in 1931, after returning to Poland, addressed to a Polish journalist. (Source: Museum in Gołotczyzna – Letters of Dr. Teodora Krajewska) |
Correspondence between Dr. Teodora Krajewska and Wiktor Bazielich. (Source: Jagiellonian Library, Manuscript Department, Personal Collection of Wiktor Bazielich) |
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After being forced to retire in 1922 due to declining health, Krajewska returned to her homeland in 1927. The country had changed. So had she. Once a determined young widow seeking purpose, she was now a seasoned physician who had witnessed the depths of human suffering and resilience. In a letter to a friend, she confessed, “All my life, I focused on helping others… I forgot about myself.”
Teodora Krajewska passed away in Warsaw on September 5, 1935. But her life did not fade into obscurity. In both Bosnia and Poland, her name endures—as a doctor, a pioneer, and a chronicler of lives on the margins. She proved that medicine could be an act of resistance, compassion, and transformation. Her white coat was more than a uniform—it was a symbol of trust, strength, and change.
Section of the city plan of Tuzla showing Frölich Street, where Dr. Teodora Krajewska lived. (Source: Archives of Tuzla Canton – ATKT/SOT)
In recognition of her lasting contribution, a monument honoring Dr. Krajewska—alongside five other distinguished physicians—was erected in the courtyard of the “Gradina” Hospital in Tuzla. The memorial was unveiled on July 12, 2007, ensuring that her name and legacy remain etched not only in medical history, but also in the memory of the city she served so faithfully.
Monument honoring Dr. Krajewska in Tuzla
Jadwiga Olszewska: A Voice of Care and Equality
Dr. Jadwiga Olszewska was born on April 10, 1855, in Kuzavka, Poland. A t distinguished physician and journalist, she dedicated her life to both the care of others and the advancement of women’s rights. After studying medicine at the Sorbonne in Paris—a significant achievement for a woman of her time—she graduated in 1894, equipped not only with medical knowledge but with a sharp intellect and a strong social conscience.
Dr. Jadwiga Olszewska
(Source: Polscy Medycy Swiatu, publication of Ministry of Foreign Affair of Poland, pp. 63)
Fluent in six languages—Polish, French, Russian, German, Serbo-Croatian, and Italian—Olszewska first practiced medicine in Serbia, working in hospitals in Loznica and Požarevac. Her path to Bosnia and Herzegovina was shaped by another pioneering woman, Dr. Teodora Krajewska, who personally recommended Olszewska as her successor in Tuzla after being offered a new post in Sarajevo. Krajewska independently traveled to Vienna to personally advocate for Olszewska’s appointment, securing approval from Minister Benjamin Kállay and his advisor Sash by vouching for her qualifications and integrity.
Dr. Olszewska officially began her work in Donja Tuzla on May 30, 1899. From the very start, she made a remarkable impact. Records from the calendar Bošnjak (1900) describe her not only as a physician, but also as a medical officer attached to the District Administration. In her first year alone, she treated 808 patients—289 from Tuzla and the rest from surrounding towns and villages. Her work was especially significant in combating infectious diseases, including syphilis, erythema, and smallpox.
But Olszewska’s contributions extended far beyond clinical care. As a journalist, she spoke out against the discrimination of women, passionately advocating for gender equality—particularly in pay and professional recognition for female physicians. Her dual roles as doctor and writer made her a powerful voice in both the public health and social spheres.
Unlike many of her contemporaries, Dr. Olszewska remained in Tuzla until the end of her life. She lived modestly on a pension, dedicated to the community she had served for decades. When she passed away on February 28, 1932, it was her fellow doctors in Tuzla who collected funds for her burial—an enduring testament to the respect and affection she inspired.
Jadwiga Olszewska’s story is one of quiet strength, integrity, and unwavering service. She healed, she challenged injustice, and she left behind a legacy rooted not only in medicine, but in dignity and equality.