Džemal Bijedić

Džemal Bijedić
27th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
In office 30 July 1971 – 18 January 1977
President	Josip Broz Tito
Preceded by	Mitja Ribičič
Succeeded by	Veselin Đuranović
Personal details
Born	12 April 1917 Mostar, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Died	18 January 1977 (aged 59) near Kreševo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Nationality	Bosniak[1][2]
Political party	League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ)

Džemal Bijedić (Bosnian pronunciation: [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.

Early life

Džemal Bijedić was born in Mostar, Austria-Hungary (in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) to Muslim parents Adem and Zarifa from a merchant family. He finished his elementary education as well as high school in Mostar, and graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, where he joined the communist party in 1939. After Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941 Bijedić joined the Yugoslav Partisans under the leadership of Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito. Bijedić remained in the partisans until the end of the People's Liberation War in 1945.

Politics

After the liberation, he performed many duties involving responsibility, in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia. From 1967, he was the president of the SR BIH Assembly ( which was by the constitutional regulations of the time the function of the president of the Republic). From July 1971 until his death in 1977, he was the Prime Minister of the SFRY government.

Bijedić played a vital role in affirming Muslims as a Yugoslav constitutive nation and according to academic Avdo Sućeska "more than any other single Communist leader of Muslim origin."^[3]

Career

• President of the People's Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1967–1971)
• President of the Federal Executive Council of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (1971–1977) i.e. Prime Minister.

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.^[4]

Legacy

A significant progress in the economy of the municipalities of Herzegovina was made under his leadership. He worked on strengthening of statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he was one of its most merited founders and builders. It is his credit that Mostar, the city he endlessly loved, got its University. The memory of Džemal Bijedić permanently remained in his native town of Mostar. As a sign of gratitude for all that he had done for Mostar, twenty seven years ago, the citizens of Mostar decided to name the University in Mostar, "The Džemal Bijedić" University in Mostar. Bijedić and his wife were survived by their two sons and one daughter.

References

Citations

1. Džemal Bijedić killed, Tito never knew what really happened.
2. Isaković 1994, p. 288.
3. Velikonja, Mitja (1992). Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Texas A&M University Press. p. 223. ISBN 1-58544-226-7.
4. BBC (8 January 2007). "Famous Air Crash Victims - Part 4: Politicians".

Bibliography

• Isaković, Alija (1994). Antologija zla (in Bosnian). Ljiljan.

External links

• Toasts of the President Geral Ford and Prime Minister Dzemal Bijedic of Yugoslavia, 19 March 1975