She was born in Vilovo in Vojvodina in 1858. She had four siblings. Her father died in 1872. In 1873, her oldest brother Bogoljub moved to Belgrade, and Mileva and their younger brother Konstantin joined him in 1876. Before moving to Belgrade, she started learning languages, especially Russian, under the influence of Svetozar Marković. She would later even translate from Russian. Marković introduced her to socialism. When she moved to Belgrade, she started taking care of the house for her brothers. At that time, she heard a great deal about Mata Cenić, who was imprisoned in the Belgrade Fortress. She visited him and a platonic love was born between them, so they got engaged. In the meantime, she translated from Russian and German, but she did not earn much. In 1878, she went with her brother Bogoljub to Zagreb to take a course in telegraphy. Upon returning to Belgrade, however, she could not find a job, so she continued to work in papers such as Istok (The East), Radnik (The Worker), and others, where her translations were also published. In 1880, she became terribly ill. After being released, Cenić came to look after Mileva and they got married in January 1881, but Mileva died on February 1, 1881.
