Dobrila Smiljani\u0107, a Serbian textile worker best known for the Sirogojno sweaters, which gained significance and popularity thanks to her, passed away today in Sirogojno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mi\u0107a Nikoli\u0107, photographer of the newspaper Bazar and her former colleague, said goodbye to Dobrila on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Into eternal memory has moved Dobrila Smiljani\u0107, the woman who created the fashion of Serbia through the Sirogojno knitters. She lived modestly, worked hard and honestly. Our dear Dobrila, rest in peace and may the earth lie lightly upon you,” wrote Nikoli\u0107 and informed that the funeral will take place in Sirogojno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dobrila Smiljani\u0107 was born in Radobu\u0111a near Arilje on September 5, 1935.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 1962 she came to Zlatibor, where she met her school friend Bora Krejovi\u0107, a doctor, who invited her to go with him (and along the way visit the Smiljani\u0107 family) to an exhibition of women’s handicrafts in Sirogojno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the invitation of priest Smiljani\u0107 and other prominent locals, she immediately joined the organization of women’s handicrafts, turning the Great Hall of the Agricultural Cooperative into the ambience of an old Serbian house with more than 2,000 handmade works by women from Sirogojno and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the model of Rajka Borojevi\u0107, who organized a weaving cooperative of women from the villages of Draga\u010devo, Dobrila came up with the idea to organize knitters from Zlatibor into the Zlatiborka cooperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n