On Saturday, 24 January 2026, a dignified commemoration was held at St Peter’s Centre in Coventry to mark the 20th anniversary of the passing of our beloved teacher Rabija Lerić (1954–2005), one of the most significant figures in the history of the Bosnian community in Great Britain.
The event brought together her former pupils from Coventry’s Bosnian supplementary school, parents, representatives of community associations and family friends. Many are now adults with children of their own, but on that day they returned to their roles as her pupils—the children whom Rabija taught about language, culture and love for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The programme was opened by Denis Hatić, a former pupil of Rabija who is now Chair of BHCA Coventry. Dr Zdenka Besara, a member of BHCA Coventry’s Board and Chair of the Association of Bosnian Women in the UK, and Dr Anes Cerić, Director of Bosnia UK Network and Honorary Consul of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Midlands, also spoke about Rabija’s life and legacy.
Rabija’s daughter, Sabina Bešić, delivered a particularly moving address. She was presented with a commemorative plaque as a lasting expression of gratitude to a woman who devoted her heart and life to Bosnian children in Great Britain.
Pupils from Coventry’s Bosnian supplementary school contributed a special programme of performances and poetry recitals, paying tribute to the teacher who dedicated her life to children and the Bosnian language.
The event concluded with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatiha and shared closing remarks in a spirit of respect, gratitude and remembrance.
Twenty years after her passing, Rabija Lerić’s name lives on through the generations of children she taught, the schools she helped build and the community that, thanks to her, preserved its language, identity and dignity.
Rabija Lerić (1954–2005)
The late Rabija Lerić, née Kukić, was born in Bugojno on 4 March 1954. She completed her secondary education and teacher training in Mostar, where she began her teaching career.
Before the war, she started a family and had two children. Her life was tragically marked by the loss of her son, who died from muscular dystrophy, and the murder of her husband at the beginning of the war in Mostar.
She arrived in Great Britain with her daughter Sabina in 1993 through an organised refugee resettlement programme.
On 21 January 1995, the Bosnian supplementary school in Birmingham officially began providing lessons in Bosnian, following the curriculum of the Pedagogical Institute of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Rabija Lerić was among its first teachers, alongside Kadira Bešić, while religious education was provided by Imam Esad Mujkanović. The school welcomed children aged seven to fifteen.
Rabija was one of the pillars of Birmingham’s Bosnian supplementary school. At a time when there were no permanent premises, transport or adequate resources, she came every week, regardless of her health, the weather or personal difficulties.
From 1996, Rabija also taught regularly at Coventry’s Bosnian supplementary school, where she remained active until her death in 2005. In Coventry, she nurtured an entire generation of children who today form the heart of the city’s Bosnian community.
In the late 1990s, she also helped develop the Bosnian supplementary school at Bosnian Centre Derby, travelling from Coventry to ensure that children there could also receive lessons in Bosnian.
