Dr. Matko Miličić - Maleško, MD was born in Hvar on July 3, 1935. He spent his childhood in Hvar, Stolac, Lokrum and Dubrovnik because his father, the doctor Dr. Mate Miličić, MD of Hvar, often received transfers. His mother Marta, maiden name Baničević, has been a native of Smokvica on the island of Korčula and had a significant influence in her environment. She was the first woman on the island of Korčula to obtain a university degree by graduating in German and Italian language and comparative literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.
Dr. Matko Miličić, MD attended primary school in Dubrovnik (at that time, seven years of duration), and then the Classical Gymnasium in Split and Zagreb. He enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb in 1953, but left Yugoslavia in 1959. He then studied at the Free University of West Berlin in Germany and the Universitaet Basel in Switzerland where in 1960 he was promoted to doctor of medicine. In the same year in Basel he married Vera Kaesdorf. At the beginning of his career he was a doctor in Switzerland and then went to the USA where he specialized in orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He has been working in private practice in New Orleans since 1971, and was later appointed Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Tulane UniversityTulane Universityand Louisiana State UniversityLouisiana State Universityin New Orleans. He has been retired since 2015. Although he has had a career in the USA, Dr. Matko Miličić, MD often visited Croatia, especially the birthplaces of his parents - Hvar on the island of Hvar and Smokvica/Brna on the island of Korčula. Through his activities, he intensively supported local projects which were important for the development of the places from which he originated. Through the Foundation, Dr. Matko Miličić, MD and his wife Vera will donate their personal savings to those who are willing to follow their vision and make additional efforts to achieve progress in the local area. This synergy is a key factor in the progress of these central Dalmatian islands, as well as the development of the local population. Prigodom Dana grada Hvara i blagdana sv. Stjepana I., pape i mučenika, Grad Hvar je krajem rujna 2022. godine dr. Matku Miličiću dodijelio Zlatnu plaketu za poticanje i promicanje kulturno-umjetničke, znanstvene, obrazovne, zdravstvene, socijalne i druge društvene djelatnosti kroz djelovanje Zaklade Vera i dr. Matko Miličić - Maleško. U srpnju 2023. godine, povodom blagdana Sv. Todora i dana Grada Korčule, dr. Matku Miličiću je uručeno posebno priznanje gradonačelnice za osobiti doprinos u humanitarnom radu.
