Ana di Pištonja, widely known as Baba Anujka, was born around 1836 or 1838 in the Kingdom of Romania. She was the daughter of a wealthy cattleman and moved to Vladimirovac, in the Banat Military Frontier of the Austrian Empire, around 1849. She attended a private school in Pančevo alongside children from affluent families and later resided in her father's home. 

At the age of 20, after a failed romantic involvement with an Austrian military officer that left her heartbroken and reportedly afflicted with syphilis, she became reclusive and developed an interest in medicine and chemistry. She was multilingual, speaking five languages. Anujka married a landowner named Pistov or di Pištonja, with whom she had 11 children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. Her husband, significantly older than her, died after 20 years of marriage, after which she continued her studies in chemistry. ​

Following her husband's death, Anujka established a laboratory in a wing of her house and gained a reputation as a healer and herbalist in the late 19th century. She was particularly sought after by wives of farmers seeking remedies for health issues, earning a respectable income that allowed her to live comfortably. Anujka produced medicines and concoctions that could induce illness in soldiers to help them avoid military service and also sold poisonous mixtures she referred to as "magic water" or "love potions." These were primarily sold to women with problematic marriages; they would administer the "magic water" to their husbands, who typically died about eight days later. Anujka's "love potion" contained small quantities of arsenic and certain plant toxins that were difficult to detect. 

When consulted about marital problems, Anujka would inquire about the "weight of the problem," meaning the body mass of the intended victim, to calculate the necessary dosage. Her victims were generally men, mostly young and healthy. Her clients claimed during trials that they were unaware that the "magic water" contained poison, believing instead that Anujka possessed some supernatural power to kill people using magic. Her concoctions are believed to have killed between 50 and 150 people.

In the 1920s, Anujka had a "sales agent," a woman named Ljubina Milankov, whose job was to find potential clients and bring them to Anujka's home. The price of Anujka's "magic water" ranged between 2,000 and 10,000 Yugoslav dinars. In January 1924, Anujka sold her "magic water" to Stana Momirov for 2,300 dinars. Stana, a previous client, administered the concoction to her husband, Lazar Ludoški, who fell ill and died after a few days. 

Stana later remarried, and within months, a wealthy uncle of her second husband died under similar circumstances. The police questioned Stana, who implicated Anujka. In December 1926, Anujka sold her "magic water" to Sima and Sofija Momirov, who intended to kill Sima's 70-year-old father, Nikola Momirov, due to family disputes. Nikola consumed the potion, became ill, and died after 15 days.

Anujka was arrested in June 1928 at the age of 90. Her trial began in June 1929 at the District Court in Pančevo. During the trial, Anujka consistently denied the charges, claiming she had never sold "magic water" and that the case against her was fabricated by Milankov. On 6 July 1929, Anujka was sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role as an accomplice in the murders of Ludoški and Momirov. Due to her advanced age, she was released after serving eight years and died on 1 September 1938 in her home in Vladimirovac at the age of 100.