- 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 = nearKreševo ,Bosnia and Herzegovina , SFRYDžemal Bijedić (
April 12 ,1917 –January 18 ,1977 ) was a Yugoslav Communist politician fromBosnia 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 ofAustria-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 theUniversity of Belgrade Faculty of Law , where he joined the communist party in 1939. AfterNazi Germany invadedYugoslavia onApril 6 ,1941 Bijedić joined theYugoslav Partisans under the leadership of Yugoslav communist leaderJosip Broz Tito . Bijedić remained in the partisans until the end of thePeople'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 theirLearjet 25 crashed on theInač mountain nearKreševo ,Bosnia and Herzegovina . The plane took off fromBatajnica Air Base inBelgrade and was en route toSarajevo 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]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.