Jany Hansal
Jany Hansal was born in 1949 on the island of Mljet. Some of her family left for America and other parts of the world as economic migrants and did not return. During the time of Yugoslavia, she worked in the tourism sector in Dubrovnik. At the beginning of the war in Croatia she became involved in humanitarian work. In November 1991 she and her children went to Germany as refugees. During her five month stay she contacted German non-governmental organisations and took part in pro-Croatian demonstrations. She subsequently returned to Croatia. She was awarded the National Order of Merit by the President of the French Republic. In 1993 she founded a humanitarian non-governmental organisation, Deša – Dubrovnik, which is still active.