Džemal Bijedić

Infobox Person
name = Džemal Bijedić


image_size = 180px
caption =
birth_date = April 12 1917
birth_place = Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary
dead = dead
death_date = january 18 1977 (age age|1917|4|12|1977|01|18)
death_place = near Kreševo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFRY

Džemal Bijedić (April 12, 1917 – January 18, 1977) was a Yugoslav 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, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Austria-Hungary) to Adem and Zarifa from the famous merchant family Bijedić. He finished his elementary education as well as high school in Mostar, and studied law at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, where he joined the communist party in 1939. After Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia on April 6, 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-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 of 1971 until his tragic death in 1977, he was the Prime Minister of the SFRJ government.

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 January 18, 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. Persistent rumors that the crash was not an accident but rather the result of foul play at the hands of his Serbian rivals has persisted although it has not been proven. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/pda/A17641497?s_id=10]

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-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.

External links

* [http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4789 Toasts of the President Geral Ford and Prime Minister Dzemal Bijedic of Yugoslavia, March 19th, 1975]