Lydia Fogaras Ljuboja

Lydia Fogaras Ljuboja MD, 95, a resident of Ft. Myers since 2005, formerly of Honolulu HI, Sarasota, FL and Bratenahl, OH, passed away Wednesday, June 19, 2019 in Ft. Myers. She was born November 18, 1923 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia to Zarko Fogaras MD and Leposava Idjidov Fogaras, now deceased.

Lydia was of the Christian faith. Lydia Fogaras Ljuboja MD was a painter and a physician. A retired Pathologist, she specialized in virology at the Louis Pasteur Institute in Paris. She was a child of the WWII freedom underground and performed clandestine work that only an ‘innocent’ child could get away with. Lydia had amazing stories. Here is a quote from her about her art: “I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil. When I was a child I went to a convent boarding school, one of the sisters appreciated my talent, became my first art teacher and introduced me to oil painting. I still have one of her paintings.Schools were closed during WWII, so artists were giving private classes in their studios. I had the good fortune to study with some of the best artists in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. I never stopped painting in my free time, even as I studied medicine and became a physician, like my mother and father.”

Lydia’s oil paintings are rich with color both vivid and energetic. Her abstract landscapes, strange mailboxes, rusty objects, old cars and trucks and Hat Ladies are invitations into a self-defined pop vision. Lydia was a one of a kind in a multitude of ways.

She is survived by her two children, Lily Hatchett and Zarko Ljuboja, and son-in-law David Hatchett, sister-in-law, Virginia Fogaras, niece Mila Davis and nephew Peter Fogaras.

Private Family services will be held.

Memorial contributions in memory of Lydia Fogaras Ljuboja MD are suggested to Hope Hospice, 9470 Healthpark Circle, Fort Myers, FL 33908.

Mullins Memorial Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Fort Myers, is entrusted with final care.