When I joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1991 to work with Dragan Sakan, one of the first people who sincerely welcomed me was Sanja Lončar.
Although she was two years older, I learned from her—about writing, about people, about life in an agency. She was meticulous and hardworking, but she wasn’t a “typical creative.” Sanja understood people. She grasped the essence of brands, but even more so, the essence of character. She was both an excellent strategist and a master of words. She knew how to use both sides of her brain, but most importantly, she used her whole heart—for her work, for her colleagues, for her clients.
Together with Nadežda Milenković and Dejan Bojović Bojke, she created some of the most well-known campaigns of the early 1990s and was considered one of the Saatchi stars of that era.
It wasn’t until later that I learned Sanja was the daughter of marketing legend Žozef Ivan Lončar. And then, everything made even more sense. She had an innate understanding of messaging, media, people, and the times, but what set her apart was that she never worked from a place of position, but from conviction.
And then, when the war began, she moved to Slovenia. And there, step by step, she chose a different path. She left advertising and devoted herself to health, nature, knowledge, and people, in the deep and wholehearted way she always had.
In Ljubljana, she became one of the most important figures in the field of natural health, education, and holistic living. She was an editor, lecturer, researcher, author of 23 books, and the leader of the most significant movement for human and environmental health in Slovenia.
She created a whole world around the portal Zazdravje.net and helped thousands of people find answers where medicine no longer offered them. She didn’t treat people, she taught them not to forget how to heal themselves.
Again, with both sides of the brain. And with her whole heart.
Yesterday, she left us forever. And today, as I write this, I feel deep gratitude for having known her, and sorrow that we hadn’t seen each other in years.
Rest in peace, dear Sanja.
You remain a part of all of us who were lucky enough to know you.
