North Macedonia: Elena Bokus

Born in c. 1893, Elena Bokus is considered one of the first women architects to professionally practice architecture in the territory presently known as North Macedonia. It is unknown where she studied architecture, and limited information is available about her. She lived and worked in Skopje, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, where she was a certified professional architect (prior to 1923). She was referenced in the first of three volumes of the book series titled, Graditelite na Makedonija (Architects in Macedonia) by Georgi Konstantinovski, and further research about her was conducted for the article “The Quest for Architect Elena Bokus” published in the South East European Journal of Architecture and Design by Vladimir B. Ladinksi.

Newer research theorizes that Bokus and Jelena Tomić-Bokur (1889–1961) are the same person. Born in 1889 in the Kingdom of Serbia, Tomić-Bokur is considered the first state-appointed woman engineer and architect in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia then North Macedonia). She held a diploma from the Technical Faculty of the University of Belgrade located in Belgrade in the (1913). During World War I, Tomić-Bokur worked as an assistant architect II in Skopje (1915–1919), and was promoted to assistant architect I (c. 1919). She relocated to Vršac (in modern day Serbia) after a promotion to Senior Technical Adviser until her retirement (1937). Tomić-Bokur died in 1961 in Belgrade, Serbia.