Nadežda Petrović (1873-1915) was one of the most well-known Serbian impressionist painters in the Fauvist art movement. Not only that, Petrović served as a nurse and war photographer as well. Petrović was born in Serbia, and she had nine other siblings. Her parents were both educated. Her mother worked as a teacher and her father also taught literature and art. Her father was an art collector as well. Her family moved several times, where Petrović’s artistic talent was recognized, and she attended a women’s school of higher education.
After graduating, she became an art teacher at a women’s university and continued to study art. At a private school in Munich, she met several other painters who inspired her and who were also part of the modern art movement. Petrović moved back to Serbia, where she became highly engaged in the arts scene, learned several foreign languages, and held her first exhibition. During this time she helped to organize and form several organizations including the First Yugoslav Art Exhibit, the First Yugoslav Art Colony, and the Circle of Serbian Sisters. The latter was a humanitarian group that helped Serbs in Kosovo and Macedonia. She continued to be involved in politics, particularly with the Serbian patriotic movements and in helping Serbians who lived in poverty.
During the Balkan War, she became a nurse and contracted typhus and cholera. She was awarded the Medal for Bravery, Order of St. Sava, and the Order of the Red Cross during her time as a nurse. She did not paint often during the war, but one of her greatest paintings was created while she was working as a nurse at Valjevo, the hospital where she worked. When the Austrian-Hungary empire declared war on Serbia in 1914, she promptly volunteered as a nurse again and contracted typhoid fever. Petrović died the next year in the same hospital in which her most renowned work was shown. Even today, she is considered the greatest and most important Impressionist and Fauvist in Serbia, and the most important female artist in Serbia of her time.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nade%C5%BEda_Petrovi%C4%87
http://www.serbia.com/about-serbia/famous-serbs/famous-artists/nadezda-petrovic/