Marta Brilej

Marta Brilej (née Guček; born 30 April 1917) was a Yugoslavian Slovenian diplomat, partisan, political courier, war hero, revolutionary, philanthropist and patron of the arts. She was born in Dobje pri Planini. She was the wife of the late Yugoslavian ambassador and war hero Jože Brilej until his death in 1981. She was the former director of PR for the board of Yugoslav tourism. She was the first woman to drive a car in the city of Belgrade.

Early life

Born into a wealthy family of landowners and merchants, she was the youngest of three children. She was educated privately at a Catholic convent boarding school and prestigious finishing school near Celje.

World War II and the partisans

During World War II she was an active member of the partisan resistance, operating under a codename to avoid capture and to protect her family. She served as a political courier and later also briefly commanded a battalion. She was also active distributing the contraband partisan news and culture publication Ljudska pravica. The Nazis and their collaborators made many unsuccessful attempts to catch and execute her, mainly in an attempt to get to her husband Jože Brilej who was a prominent partisan. The Italian fascists caught and arrested her in Ljubljana, deporting and imprisoning her in a concentration camp for a year in Italy and then in a prison in Perugia where she was given a 12-year sentence as a political prisoner of war. Following the Italians surrendered she was released. She immediately made her way back to Slovenia and re-joined the partisans where she resumed her post as a political courier until the end of the war.

Political and diplomatic career

She became a member of the Slovenian branch of the Yugoslav social democrat party at the age of 16 (now known as the Social Democrat party of Slovenia), remaining a dedicated and active member throughout her life. She served as ambassadress of Yugoslavia alongside her husband Jože Brilej in London, New York City, Mexico, Cairo, Yemen. Later in her career, when her husband was reposted to parliament in Belgrade, she resumed her post as director of PR for Yugoslav tourism.

Alongside her husband, Brilej was present at most important Yugoslav state functions especially where visiting foreign dignitaries were in attendance. They were also tasked with hosting these eminent guests in Slovenia. This included: Anthony Eden, King Haile Selassie, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, King Paul of Greece, Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Private life

She married Dr. Joze Brilej on 11 July 1936 at Ljubljana Cathedral (St. Nicholas' Cathedral). They had a son and a daughter.

A lifelong patron of the arts, she and her husband nurtured a close circle of friends who were literary figures, artists, musicians and poets including Mosa Pijade, Ivo Andric, Miroslav Krleza, Dubravka Tomsic, Zinka Milanov, Kajuh, Savo Radulovic.

She and her husband were the first to build a second "weekend" home in the former Yugoslavia in 1959. Although a sensation to begin with, causing a brief scandal in parliament, it quickly set a new fashion in the socialist country. Subsequent years saw thousands follow suit building holiday homes.

She was the first woman to drive a car in Belgrade.

Awards and decorations

Award	Class	Country	Notes
Order of the Virtues (Egypt) (Nishan al-Kamal)	1st Class	Egypt	Egyptian order of knighthood
Order of Merits for the People	Second class	Yugoslavia
Commemorative Medal of the Partisans 1941		Yugoslavia	Commemorative
Order of the Partisan Star		Yugoslavia

References

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📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Battle of Jelenov Žleb
• Marko Ristić (Yugoslav Partisan)

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