Nikola Ljubičić

Nikola Ljubičić Никола Љубичић
President of the Presidency of Serbia
In office 5 May 1986 – 14 December 1987
Preceded by	Dobrivoje Vidić
Succeeded by	Dušan Čkrebić
3rd Federal Secretary of People's Defence
In office 18 May 1967 – 5 May 1982
Preceded by	Ivan Gošnjak
Succeeded by	Branko Mamula
Personal details
Born	4 April 1916(1916-04-04) Karan near Užice, Kingdom of Serbia
Died	13 April 2005(2005-04-13) (aged 89) Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Nationality	Serb
Political party	SKJ League of Communists - Movement for Yugoslavia
Spouse(s)	Vera Ljubičić
Military service
Allegiance	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Service/branch	Yugoslav People's Army
Years of service	1941–1982
Rank	General of the Army
Commands	Yugoslav People's Army
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Order of National Hero of Yugoslavia

Nikola Ljubičić with Josip Broz Tito, the President of Yugoslavia

Nikola Ljubičić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Љубичић; born in the village of Karan near Užice on 4 April 1916; died in Belgrade on 13 April 2005) was the President of the Presidency of Serbia (1982–1984), a member of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1984–1989), and the Minister of Defence of Yugoslavia (1967–1982). He received numerous medals both from Yugoslavia and abroad, including the Order of the National Hero of Yugoslavia.

He fought in the World War II alongside Josip Broz Tito for the Yugoslav partisan movement and was proclaimed a Yugoslav national hero on the 27 November 1953 for his actions in the war.

Nikola Ljubičić joined the Partisans at the start of the war in Yugoslavia in 1941. He served with distinction, courage and heroism in the face of death. During the war he was put in charge of numerous units, moving through the ranks of the Partisan army. 41 years after his first steps upon the battle fields of Yugoslavia, he retired from the Yugoslav People's Army as a General of the Army with four stars degree, and Minister of Defence.

In 1982 Nikola Ljubičić took up the position of President of the Presidency of Serbia. He remained in this position until 1984. From 1984 to 1989 he was a member of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

He died on 13 April 2005, and was buried with full military honours in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens of the New Cemetery in Belgrade. [1] [2]

There are a number of publications on his work such as the Total National Defence - Strategy for Peace (published in 1977 in numerous languages, including English, Arabic, Russian and Serbo-Croatian), and his own memoirs of World War II in the book "U Titovoj koloni" ("Marching with Tito"; published in 2006).

Military offices
Preceded by Ivan Gošnjak	Federal secretary of people's defence 18 May 1967 – 5 May 1982	Succeeded by Branko Mamula
Political offices
Preceded by Dobrivoje Vidić	President of Serbian Presidency 5 May 1982 – 5 May 1984	Succeeded by Dušan Čkrebić

Persondata
Name	Ljubicic, Nikola
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	4 April 1916
Place of birth	Karan near Užice, Kingdom of Serbia
Date of death	13 April 2005
Place of death	Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro