If we take the road of prejudice, we could easily conclude that every girl dreams of being a princess. One of the heroines of our ‘Examples of SHEvalry and SHEroism’ campaign was born the daughter of the then prince. Contrary to expectations, she was not remembered for her beautiful dresses, court balls or marrying a rich prince. This princess defied her time and chose a different way of life. She never ran away from war, but rather helped her people and engaged in humanitarian work. She is the first woman in the Balkans to sit behind the wheel and the first noblewoman to take up photography. Her name is Princess Ksenija Petrović-Njegoš.
A century later, the road leads us to Anđela Knežević, who defies her time and takes part in hill climb races as the only woman to compete in that discipline. Anđela learned to drive a car when she was only seven. She says she inherited her love of beauty from her mother and her love of speed from her father. It’s her father who is to “blame” for cars becoming her passion, love and hobby.
“For every fellow racer who supports me and is thrilled with the fact that a woman wants to race – although I think that if a guy can do it, so can a woman – another three to five of them watch me, laugh and wonder what I’m doing there. They find it so funny to see a woman in such an environment, let alone to see her race, achieve a result and make an impression,” Anđela explains.
She encourages young women to keep fighting, without paying attention to what others say, as long as they know what they want. Anđela has been competing in hill climb races since 2019. She has been involved in the world of classic cars since the age of 15: she is the public relations officer for the Oldtimer Montenegro club and for the Association of Classic Cars of Montenegro. Anđela is 26 and is currently studying for a master’s degree in Croatia. She previously studied at the Polytechnic Faculty of the University of Donja Gorica, after which she obtained a degree in architecture in Paris. She was born in Nikšić and has lived in Podgorica for the last 10 years.
Anđela Knežević was one of the speakers at our panel discussion entitled ‘Examples of SHEvalry and SHEroism’, which we organised as part of the campaign of the same name.