Zorica Rebernik, obsessed with the red color, drinks coffee in her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
BREZE, Bosnia (Reuters) - Zorica Rebernik has spent her life in red and plans to stay that way -- even after she dies.
After four decades dressing in the color from head to toe, the 67-year-old Bosnian has had tombstones made for herself and husband Zoran -- whom she married wearing a red gown -- from a special red granite imported from India.
The retired schoolteacher lives in a red house, where she and Zoran eat from red plates, drink from red glasses and sleep in red bedding. Even her hair is dyed red.
Zorica Rebernik, obsessed with the red color, stands in the kitchen inside her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
"When I turned 18 or 19 there came a sudden, strong urge to wear red," Rebernik told Reuters. "There must not be a single dot of any other color on my home decorations or clothes."
Wearing shades like scarlet and vermillion gives her "the feeling of strength and power".
Rebernik's obsession with the color has made her a local celebrity in her hometown of Breze, close to Tuzla in northern Bosnia.
Zorica Rebernik, obsessed with the red color, drinks coffee in her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
"Everybody knows me. As soon as people see me, they offer me different red things," she said, adding that she would reject any gift that was not red, no matter how precious.
She even goes to funerals dressed in red, eschewing traditional black.
The only problem is that her husband does not notice when Zorica wears something new. "I can't tell the difference. Everything is the same," he said.
Kitchen is seen in Zorica Rebrenik's house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
(Reporting by Dado Ruvic, Writing by Maja Zuvela, Editing by Catherine Evans)
Zorica Rebernik's sitting room is seen in her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado RuvicZorica Rebrenik's shoes are seen in her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado RuvicZorica Rebernik, obsessed with the red color, holds a coffee cup in the kitchen inside her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado RuvicFlowers are seen in the kitchen inside Zorica Rebrenik's house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado RuvicZorica Rebernik, obsessed with the red color, looks at pictures from the period when she was a teacher, in her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado RuvicZorica Rebernik's pictures, from the period when she was a teacher, are seen in her house in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado RuvicZorica Rebernik, obsessed with the red color, sits on her grave in the village of Breze near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
