Spasenija Cana Babović je bila partizanka i prva srpska potpredsednica vlade.
Tokom Prvog svetskog rata Cana ostaje bez majke i brine se o sestri i sebi. Završila je tekstilnu školu i nakon toga počinje da radi u rodnom Lazarevcu, a sa dvadeset godina u tekstilnim fabrikama u Beogradu. U ovom periodu Cana postaje aktivna u sindikatu i upoznaje se sa levičarskim idejama, te postaje članica SKOJ-a (Saveza komunističke omladine Jugoslavije). 1928. godine postaje članica Komunističke partije Jugoslavije.
Cana je bila hapšena dva puta, 1928. i 1930. godine, drugi put sa suprugom, kada je puštaju iz zatvora. 1935. se seli u Kruševac iz Beograda, u kojem je živela u ilegali. Dok je radila u tekstilnoj radionici u Kruševcu organizovala je štrajkove sa radnicima fabrike sapuna Merima. U narednim godinama se nekoliko puta seli iz grada u grad, da bi 1937. otišla u Sarajevo gde su je uhapsili i odveli u zatvor u Kragujevac. U zatvoru je bila mučena, ali ni u jednom trenutku nije popustila i odala saborce ili važne informacije. O Caninom hrabrom držanju u zatvoru su pisale i partijske novine „Proleter“, a policajci su za druge uhapšene komunistkinje koje su se takođe držale hrabro dok su bile zatvorene govorili da se ponašaju kao Cana Babović.
Cana je dve godine provela na robiji. 1940. postala je članica Centralnog komiteta Komunističke partije i jedna od dve žene izabrane u članstvo. U okviru partije je brzo napredovala i zauzimala važne pozicije, učestvovala u organizovanju ustanaka u Srbiji, bila je zamenica političkog komesara Druge proleterske brigade i članica Suda proleterske pravde koji je sudio pripadnicima četničkog pokreta.
Cana se vatreno zalagala za to da se ženama dozvoli aktivno učešće u samoj borbi i ratu i da se njihov doprinos ne ograničava samo na pružanje medicinske pomoći. 1942. godine objavljuje tekst „Važnost učešća žena u današnjoj narodnooslobodilačkoj borbi“ u kojem je javno iznela ovo svoje stanovište, čime se glasno usprotivila retrogradnim stavovima velikog broja partijskih članova. Rukovodstvo partije je prebacuje da radi sa AFŽ-om (Antifašističkim frontom žena), u kojem je ostala aktivna do samog kraja. U AFŽ-u je isticala važnost obrazovanja žena i borbe protiv fašizma.
Cana je odlikovana Ordenom narodnog heroja, Ordenom junaka socijalističkog rada i bila je nosilac Partizanske spomenice.
Nakon rata Cana postaje aktivna u političkom životu i zauzima važne pozicije u vladi Narodne Republike Srbije i kasnije Socijalističke Republike Srbije. Bila je ministarka rada od 1946. do 1951, zatim ministarka za narodno zdravlje i socijalnu politiku do 1953. Cana je takođe bila prva žena potpredsednica vlade u istoriji Srbije.
Pred kraj života Cana je bila nezadovoljna određenim životnim odlukama i smatrala je da je Partija njome manipulisala u nekim periodima. Bilo kako bilo, iako ova revolucionarka nije bila naročito popularna u javnosti, u Partiji je važila za odlučnu i razboritu članicu, a svoj uspeh je zasluženo stekla.
//Spasenija Cana Babović was a partisan and the first Serbian deputy prime minister.
During WWI Cana lost her mother and after that took care of her sister. After finishing textile high school she started working in her hometown of Lazarevac, and at the age of 20 she worked in the textile factories in Belgrade. During this time Cana actively participated in the workers union and was drawn to left wing ideas and became a member of SKOJ (League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia). In 1928 she became a member of Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
Cana had been arrested two times, in 1928 and 1930. The second time her husband was arrested as well, but Cana was released because of the lack of the evidence and because she was pregnant. In 1935. Cana moved to Kruševac and lived there secretly. In Kruševac she had worked in a textile workshop, and she was organising strikes with the workers of soap factory Merima. In the following years Cana was moving from one city to another. In 1937 she went to Sarajevo, where she was arrested and transferred to prison in Kragujevac. She was tortured in prison, but didn’t give up, nor gave important information or betray her comrades. Party’s newspaper „Proleter“ wrote about Cana’s bravery, and the policemen told future arrested communist women who showed courage that they were acting as Cana Babović.
Cana had spent two years in prison. In 1940. she became a member of Central Committee of Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and she was one of two women elected into the Committee. She quickly progressed in the Party and took on important roles, she participated in organising uprisings in Serbia.
Cana was avidly advocating for women to participate in the battles during the WWII. She believed that women’s contribution to antifascist fight shouldn’t be limited to sanitary aid. In 1942, she published a text titled „The importance of women in today’s People’s Liberation War“ with which she publicly stood out to retrograde standpoints of large number of The Party members. She was appointed to work with AFŽ (Women’s Antifascist Front), in which she had remained active till it’s end. In AFŽ Cana was continuously pointing out the importance of women’s education and the fight against fascism.
After the war Cana had an important role in the political life of Yugoslavia. She had important roles in the governments of People’s Republic of Serbia as well as in Socialist Republic of Serbia after that. She was the Minister of Labour from 1946 to 1951, Minister of public health and social policy until 1953. Cana was the first Serbian deputy prime minister as well.
She was honoured with the Order of People’s Hero of Yugoslavia, Order of the Hero of Socialist Work, and she received Commemorative Medal of the Partisans.
Towards the end of her life Cana was unhappy with certain life decisions, and she thought that The Party manipulated her from time to time. However, although this revolutionary wasn’t too popular in the public, she was important figure in The Party, where she was considered as determined and reasonable member, and she gained her success deservingly.