Katarina Matanović-Kulenović, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Katarina Matanović-Kulenović

Croatian aviator

Date of Birth: 18-Mar-1913

Place of Birth: Vuka, Osijek-Baranja County, Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia

Date of Death: 24-Apr-2003

Profession: aircraft pilot

Nationality: Croatia

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Katarina Matanovic-Kulenovic (18 March 1913 in Vuka – 24 April 2003 in Zagreb) was the first female Croatian pilot and parachutist. Born near Osijek in 1913, she lived in Zagreb from 1918.
She became a graduated pilot in the Yugoslav Royal Air Force in 1936.
She parachuted at an air show in Zemun in 1938. During the Independent State of Croatia period she was married to Croatian journalist Namik Kulenovic.
From 1943 she served in the Croatian War Air Force.
For a time she was the personal pilot of minister Ante Vokic.
In 1944, her husband died in a plane crash.
After the Second World War she was no longer allowed to fly in Communist Yugoslavia and her story was largely unknown. She received the Order of Danica Hrvatska from Croatian president Franjo Tudman in 1998.
In 2000 Boris Puhlovski wrote a biography on Matanovic-Kulenovic titled Katarina na krilima.Matanovic-Kulenovic died in 2003.