The following story is an extract with kind permission from ‘For a Better Life, Yugoslavs on the Goldfields of Western Australia 1890-1970 by Dr Criena Fitzgerald.
One of the most tragic love stories was that of Ante Mateljan and Petrica Mikovic (Micovich). Luka Markovich, a friend of Ante Mateljan, brought Petrica’s photograph back to Kalgoorlie to show Ante. Petrica asked if he knew of any prospective suitors and had given him her photograph to show to them on his return to Australia. Her son Tony recalled his father’s story of the event:
Passport Photograph of Petrica Micovic courtesy of Tony Mateljan
While Luka Markovich was over there (Yugoslavia) he was also friends with this Mikovich family and when he said goodbye to the family my mum gave him a little photo and said, “If you think of anybody worthy of me, show him this photo and tell him to write to me.” So thats what happened.” So, when he came back here, he didnt give Dad the photo straight away, but he asked him, “Would you be interested in writing to a Montenegrin girl back home of a good family, and respected family” and Dad said ‘Yes” and he wrote to her and then he ended up bringing her out in 1938.
She set sail for Kalgoorlie in 1938 to marry Ante Mateljan. Ante had a deposit on a house in Forrest Street in Boulder, and the couple married, with their son Tony being born that same year. Late that year, Ante was dismissed from his job in Kalgoorlie because of his membership in the Communist Party, and the young family was forced to relocate to Gwalia, where he resumed work as a machine miner.
Kalgoorlie Miner 31 October 1938, page 4 –
Double YugoSIav Wedding Great – Jubilation among the 550 Yugoslav residents in the Kalgoorlie and Boulder districts on Saturday marked the occasion of the double wedding of two of their countrymen. At 10.30 a.m. the Boulder registrar, Mr. Gannon, married Anton Mateljan to Petricia Mikovich and Vincent Ujcich to Millie Rjavic. In the evening more than 200 guests, including the Mayor of Boulder, Mr W. F. Coath, were present at a reception in the Boulder Town Hall. Mrs. Mateljan arrived in Australia on October 11th and could speak very little English. She comes from near the Dalmatian border. Mrs Rjavic, however, has been in Australia for two years.
In April 1940, Petrica was hit by a car as she alighted onto the road from a taxi in Tower Street, Leonora, and she was killed. Her son Tony, aged 9 months, who she was holding at the time of the accident, was seriously injured but survived after spending 50 days in the Kalgoorlie Hospital.
Kalgoorlie Miner 27 April 1940, page 4
Ante never got over her death and brought up his son on his own with the assistance of various women whom he paid to help him. In 1946, Ante was “turned down” with silicosis and had to leave mining, and with his son, Tony, decided to make the journey home to Yugoslavia on the SS Partizanka in 1948. Unable to leave his wife behind, Ante had her body disinterred and cremated, and her ashes interred in a box which he took with him back to Yugoslavia.
Ante Mateljan and his son Tony with Petrica’s ashes in 1947 – Photographs Courtesy of Tony Mateljan
Petrica’s ashes returned with the family to Australia in 1953 and, on Ante’s death in 1973, her ashes were interred with his body.
The Funeral of Petrica Mateljan with the Yugoslav Club on the right (which is still there today, 3 Moran Street, Boulder). Petricia was buried in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery – Photograph Courtesy of Tony Mateljan.
This story is only one of the many from the recently published ‘For a Better Life, Yugoslavs on the Goldfields of Western Australia 1890-1970 by Dr Criena Fitzgerald.
Books can be purchased by phoning the author on 0417 980 553 in Perth.
The Funeral of Petrica Mateljan with the Yugoslav Club on the right (which is still there today, 3 Moran Street, Boulder) – Photograph Courtesy of Tony Mateljan.
Moya Sharp
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