President Josip Broz Tito Role Politician Preceded by Mitja Ribicic Education Great School | Nationality Bosniak Succeeded by Veselin Duranovic Name Dzemal Bijedic | |
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Born 12 April 1917
Mostar, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austro-Hungarian Empire ( 1917-04-12 ) Political party League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ) Died January 18, 1977, Kresevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Party League of Communists of Yugoslavia | ||
SYND 5-10-72 YUGOSLAV PREMIER DZEMAL BIJEDIC AND UAR PREMIER, AZIZ SIDKY MEETING
Džemal Bijedić ([bijěːdit͡ɕ]; 12 April 1917 – 18 January 1977) was a Bosniak Communist politician from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the prime minister of Yugoslavia from 1971 until his death.
Contents
- SYND 5 10 72 YUGOSLAV PREMIER DZEMAL BIJEDIC AND UAR PREMIER AZIZ SIDKY MEETING
- Early life
- WWII a communist a domobran and a partisan
- Politics
- Career
- Death
- Legacy
- References
Early life
Džemal Bijedić was born in Mostar, Austria-Hungary (in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) to parents Adem and Zarifa, into a Muslim merchant family. He finished his elementary and secondary education in Mostar, and graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, where he joined the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1939.
WWII: a communist, a domobran, and a partisan
In a documentary produced by Face TV, Mišo Marić claims that Bijedic joined the Domobrans (Hrvatsko domobranstvo (NDH)) in April 1941, following the directives of League of Communists of Yugoslavia, as a lieutenant using an alias Ante Jukic. Another documentary about Džemal Bijedic produced by Federalna televizija shows (at 15:34) a photo of Bijedic dressed in a military uniform with Domobrans' collar insignia. The same photo was shown at the beginning of the first documentary (01:27), but the Domobrans' insignia was painted over with Partisans' red star in colour. It is also mentioned that Bijedic joined the Yugoslav Partisans in February 1943.
Politics
After the liberation, Bijedić had many political roles. From 1967, he was the president of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Assembly. From July 1971 until his death in 1977, he was Prime Minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Bijedić played a vital role in affirming Muslims as a Yugoslav constitutive nation.
Career
Death
On 18 January 1977, Džemal Bijedić, his wife Razija and six others were killed when their Learjet 25 crashed on the Inač mountain near Kreševo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The plane took off from Batajnica Air Base in Belgrade and was en route to Sarajevo when it crashed, ostensibly due to poor weather conditions. Conspiracy theorists have suggested that the crash was not an accident but rather the result of foul play at the hands of his Serbian rivals.
Legacy
Significant progress in the economy of Herzegovina was made under Bijedić's leadership. The university in Mostar was renamed the Džemal Bijedić University in his honour. Bijedić and his wife were survived by their two sons and one daughter.