Serbian St-Sava Award Document Translation Help Needed

[love4history]

Hello Gents

 

The document attached is for the award of the Order of St-Sava to a Belgian lady in the 1930's. I have not been able yet to establish her connection to Serbia or why she was awarded the medal. Perhaps there's a clue in the document? Could anyone help by translating the relevant details please? Thank you very much for your help!

Best regards from Belgium

 

Bit more detail

[Gordon Craig]

love4history,

 

I can not translate the document for you but there is a possibility that this woman either served with the Belgian Red Cross in hospitals in Serbia during WWI or worked with a Belgian organization to help support Serbia during the war.

 

Regards,

 

Gordon

[love4history]

Hello Gordon

 

Thank you for the input. That would be a possibility yes, but then it would mean that the award was made very late (1936) if for involvement during the Geat War.  I also know that during the Great War she was working in a hospital in London rather then in Serbia.  Lets see if someone can read Serbian here on the forum.  Cheers

[chechaco1]

slock hildegarde, церемония награждения проходит по визам МИДа, некоторые титулы, если, я их переведу, это несложно. Позиция лауреата интересная, но не читаемая. Если этот два слова, расположенные под прямым углом, стоит отдельно, эти два слова, расположенные под прямым углом.

The royal viceroy deigned to sign the decree on the proposal of the prendergast of the Ministerial Council and the Minister of Foreign Affairs AWARDS slock hildegarde (name in English transcription), then two words are unclear, probably the position, the royal Order of St. Sava fifth (V) "then the line is illegible, the penultimate word" order"", then the signature.

[love4history]

Thank you very much Chechaco1!    Those two words just after her name Slock Hildegarde are probably important as they likely contain a clue of why she was awarded the order.  Indeed her position or function perhaps. Anyone who could add?

Thanks

l4h

[BalkanCollector]

20 hours ago, chechaco1 said:

 

It says "белгиску држављанку" which means "the Belgian citizen". Unfortunately, there isn't anything on the document that indicates for which merits was she awarded. 

[chechaco1]

"In short, your case is bad, but you should not lose hope," as the gypsy Janechek said in Pilsen, when in 1879 he was sentenced to hang for the murder of two people with the aim of robbery; everything can turn out for the best! And he guessed right: at the last minute he was taken away from the gallows, because he could not be hanged on the occasion of the birthday of the emperor, which fell on the very day when he was supposed to hang. Then he was hanged the day after the emperor's birthday. And then this guy got even more lucky: on the third day he was pardoned, and had to resume his trial, as everything spoke for what the other Yanechek had done. Well, they had to dig him out of the prison cemetery, rehabilitate him, and bury him in the Plzen Catholic cemetery. And then it turned out that he was of the Evangelical faith, he was moved to the Evangelical cemetery, and then...

 

Here in the frame of the red is that? Because everyone does

https://www.wharepuke.com/wharepuke/wp/?page_id=4926

[Dragomir]

Well, the framed insert says simply that the awardee is free from paying the order` s tax.

 

 

[chechaco1]

So the link is not this lady?

 

https://www.wharepuke.com/wharepuke/wp/?page_id=4926

[love4history]

23 hours ago, BalkanCollector said:

 

It says "белгиску држављанку" which means "the Belgian citizen". Unfortunately, there isn't anything on the document that indicates for which merits was she awarded. 

Thank you very much BalkanCollector!  Was worth the try of course. I doubt indeed that she would have been awarded the Order just because she was Belgian   ?

21 minutes ago, chechaco1 said:

So the link is not this lady?

 

https://www.wharepuke.com/wharepuke/wp/?page_id=4926

Yes, that's her.

[chechaco1]

It is quite likely that she was a relative, apparently, of the "right person", and for big people, for the sake of great goals, a painted piece of jewelry is not a pity. Especially since the situation was heating up and it was necessary to be friends )))

Edited April 28, 2021 by chechaco1

[love4history]

On 28/04/2021 at 08:59, chechaco1 said:

It is quite likely that she was a relative, apparently, of the "right person", and for big people, for the sake of great goals, a painted piece of jewelry is not a pity. Especially since the situation was heating up and it was necessary to be friends )))

A lot of foreign awards are granted as a courtesy, very true. However, in this case the Serbian Award was granted in 1936 and she only married  the viscount in 1940. She herself was not of nobility, her father a "mere" Belgian doctor and an English mother. So not sure how "big" she was when receiving the award.

[922F]

Hildegarde Maria Slock-Cottell image found at http://www.caulfeild.co.uk/individual.php?pid=I121&ged=Caulfeild.  She  held a Belgian Leopold I knight as well, perhaps suggesting that her St. Sava was more than a protocol award.   

[love4history]

Hi,  Pretty formidable lady by the looks of it eh? ?  I know she did hospital work in London during WW I so she would probably have received some awards for that. Queen Elisabeth Medal with Red Cross comes to mind + the WW I commemorative medal and the victory medal. A Knight's grade in the Order of Leopold I would be quite a high and uncommon award for this though. Not sure when or how she would have received that Order. Nothing confirmed. Will see if I can more info.

[love4history]

Got an answer from the service nobility and orders. Mrs Slock-Cottell was awarded the Knight's Grade in the Order of Leopold II (not the Leopold Order, father and son, completely different medal) as a retired "military nurse" in april 1939. No info on her St-Sava Award.

[chechaco1]

Most likely, too ,the "Award found a hero" for the First World War, probably, was in the Balkan theater of operations