PRILOZI CONTRIBUTIONS - Institut za istoriju Sarajevo

Hana Younis, Skice porodičnog života u Sarajevu posljednjih decenija osmanske vladavine
Prilozi, 36, Sarajevo, 2007, str. 33-68.
lution of big families. The average family began to have four members: parents and
two children. One needs to note that the mortality rate of babies during the entire 19 th
century was high so that the figure illustrating an average Sarajevo family relates to
the children that survived and not to those that were born. It is evident that, with these
social changes, people did not get married at a very young age any more, while
the age difference between spouses was between 4 and 10 years. Spouses did not
show their mutual affection in public; the only public display of emotions was that
of mutual respect. People did divorce one another, yet it was a very rare occurrence.
The wedlock was most often broken by death of one of spouses. If the head of family
died, the surviving members of his household were faced with great difficulties.
Taxes for transfer of ownership and debts were among these difficulties that struck
families left without their head. The space where families exercised freely their private,
intimate life was their homes. In the Ottoman period, to have a home meant to
have one’s own house. Traditionally, the way houses were constructed with separate
parts for men and women was maintained in most homes, although Western influences
were felt more strongly in the choice of furniture, particularly in the homes of
emerging urban elite, mainly among merchants.
Immigrants, mainly from Western European countries had special influence on
the family life; their lifestyle gradually influenced all segments of life of domicile
population of Sarajevo.
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