Career
She is the oldest of three sisters Zellermeier who moved, at the end of the 19th century, to Bosnia from Krakow, Poland. Little is known about Lotika’s childhood and early adulthood. He died when Lotika was 19 years old.
At the same time two other Jewish families, Zaller and Apfelmeier, moved from Krakow to Višegrad.
Their destinies will inseparably entwine in the coming years. Even she was widowed at such an early age, Lotika never married again and had no descendants.
A bit more is known about Lotika’s life after she moved to Bosnia. In Višegrad she worked as a manager of the Zur Brucke hotel, commonly known as Lotika’s Hotel among the locals.
While she was managing the hotel, one of the regulars was Ivo Andrić.
The two of them built a close relationship over the years. Ivo Andrić has spent his childhood, youth and early adulthood in Višegrad and he enjoyed spending time in Lotika’s Hotel. Having established a close relationship with Lotika, he used her and her family as a basis for many of the characters in his novel The Bridge on the Drina.
He kindly responded thanking them.
Lotika’s sister Debora was married to Adolph Zaller, also mentioned in Andrić’s novel. Their daughter Ina married Drago Maras, a doctor from Zagreb.
They lived in Montreal, Canada, for the rest of their lives. The youngest sister, Adelaide, married Lavoslav Sperling, a businessman from Višegrad.
Serafina"s great-granddaughter Jelena Đurović is Vice President of the Jewish Community of Montenegro.
Film director Emir Kusturica owns a traditional coffee shop Lotika on the grounds of the Mokra Gora National Park in Serbia. His business enterprise also bears Lotika’s name (Lotika doo). Belgrade television station B92 has kept those facts in the focus of the Serbian public.
As a beneficiary of the funds granted by the Serbian Ministry of Culture, Kusturica is working on the opera The Bridge on the Drina.
