Marija Maga Magazinović je bila aktivna feministkinja i koreografkinja. Dala je izuzetan doprinos modernizaciji umetnosti i celokupnog srpskog društva s početka 20. veka. Marija je, za taj period, bila izuzetno progresvina žena. Pored završene Više devojačke škole, diplomirala filozofiju na Filozofskom fakultetu u Beogradu i govorila je nekoliko jezika. Marija je bila socijalistkinja i 1903. godine sa istomišljenicama osniva “Klub studentkinja” čije su članice prevodile dela najznačajnijih svetskih feministkinja iz tog perioda – Klare Cetkin, Lili Braun, Elen Kej. Marija se bavila prevođenjem i za Narodno pozorište.
Maga Magazinović je bila prva žena u mnogočemu i nije preterano reći da je bila svojevrsni ledolomac za napredak žena u mnogim društvenim sferama. Prva bibliotekarka i prva žena koja je pisala za “Politiku” (1905) bila je upravo Marija. Naslov njenog prvog teksta bio je “Obrazovanje ženskinja u Srbiji”. Posebno se zalagala za izjednačavanje prava žena i muškaraca na univerzitetsko obrazovanje. Paralelno sa Filozofskim fakultetom upisala je i Pravni fakultet u Beogradu, čime je bila prva studentkinja ovog fakulteta, ali koji nakon kratkog vremena napušta smatrajući da je ispunila svoj cilj otvaranja vrata ovog fakulteta za žene. U “Politici” je pisala žensku rubriku “Ženski svet” i uređivala “Feljton”. I kao novinarka se bavila temama od značaja za položaj žene u društvu, te je srpskom društvu prenosila novosti ženskih pokreta iz Nemačke i Engleske.
Svoj profesionalni život, pogotovo u kasnijem period Marija je posvetila plesu i koreografiji, a pošto je dosta putovala po Evropi, donosila je i koreografske inovacije i modernozivala ovdašnji ples. Boraveći u Nemačkoj pohađala je časove glume, klasičnog baleta i ritmičkog plesa. Po povratku u Beograd otvara školu ritmičke gimnastike, ali sa svojim obrazovanjem tu ne staje, nego u narednom periodu (1910-ih 1920-ih godina) ide na usavršavanja po inostranstvu, gde se upoznaje sa najnovijim plesnim trendovima koje donosi nazad u Beograd.
Period iz Marijinog života koji se retko spominje je period Drugog svetskog rata, tokom kojeg je ona javno zastupala šokantne i dijametralno suprotne stavove od onih po kojima je bila poznata do tada. Dokumentacija ukazuje na to da je tokom rata Marija pisala kolaboracionističke, odnosno antisemitske, antifeminističke, ksenofobne i eugeničke tekstove, propagirajući nacističko viđenje uređenja društva. S obzirom na njenu (socijalističku) prošlost, ali i na činjenicu da je i nakon Drugog svetskog rata neometano nastavila da radi svoj posao – radeći u društvu “Abrašević” i baletskoj školi, nisu najjasniji razlozi ovakvog ideološkog preokreta, niti je ovaj period njenog života posebno rasvetljen.
Marija Magazinović was a feminist and a choreographer. She gave a tremendous contribution to the modernization of art and Serbian society in the first decades od 20th century. During that period she was an extraordinarily progressive woman. Apart from graduating to become a teacher, she graduated philosophy at the University of Belgrade and she spoke several languages. She was a socialist and in 1903 she founded a Club of female students. Membes of that club translated the works of the most important feminists – Clara Zetkin, Lily Brown, Ellen Key… Marija was also translating for The National Theatre.
Maga Magazinović was the first women in many fields and it is not an exaggeration to say that she was an icebreaker for women’s progress in Serbian social life. She was the first female librarian and the first woman to write for the newspaper “Politika” in 1905. The title of her first text for the newspaper was “Women’s education in Serbia”. She was a passionate advocate for the equality of man and woman’s rights in higher education sphere. Apart from studying philosophy she had also enrolled to the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, but after somewhat short period of time she dropped out of it explaining that her goal to open this faculty’s door for women has been accomplished. For the newspaper “Politika” she had been writing a column titled “Women’s world”. As a journalist she also tackled with the subject of gender equality, writing about the news from German and British women’s movements.
She had dedicated her professional life, especially in the latter years to dance and choreography, and since she had travelled a lot, she brought dancing innovations back to Serbia and modernized it. While in Germany she attended acting, dancing and ballet classes. She opened a rhythmic gymnastics school in Belgrade, but continued with her personal education abroad.
The period of Marija’s life that is rarely mentioned is during WWII, during which she publicly represented shocking and diametrically opposed standpoints from the ones she was well known by. The documents show that during the war Marija wrote collaborationist, anti-Semitic, anti-feminist, xenophobic and eugenic texts, propagating a nazi-like social system. Considering her socialist past and the fact that after the war she continued doing her regular job and working in a ballet school, the reasons for such a dramatic ideological turnaround are not clear, nor is this period of her life clarified.