Đuro Salaj (1889 – 20 May 1958) was one of the founders of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

and the first president of the United Labour Unions of Yugoslavia. Salaj was born in

Valpovo Valpovo is a town in Slavonia, Croatia. It is close to the Drava river, northwest of Osijek. The population of Valpovo is 7,406, with a total of 11,563 in the municipality. Name In Hungarian the town is known as ''Valpó'' and in German as ''Wa ...

and received secondary education as a tailor. In 1907 he travelled to Austria, Germany and Switzerland looking for work, and became a

social democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

activist. In 1909 he moved to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

and became a local sewing trade union representative. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he moved to

Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod was the 7th large ...

where he became further involved in politics, and led the local branch of the Social Democratic Party to become the Communist Party. Between 1930 and 1944 he was the Communist Party of Yugoslavia representative with the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

, stationed in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, he was decorated with the

Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour ( sh, Orden junaka socijalističkog rada / , sl, Red junaka socialističnega dela, mk, Орден на јунак на социјалистичката работа) was the fourth highest state decoration ...

. His remains are buried in the

Tomb of the People's Heroes, Zagreb The Tomb of the People's Heroes ( hr, Grobnica narodnih heroja) is located in Zagreb's central graveyard, Mirogoj. It was designed by the Croatian sculptor Đuro Kavurić and built in 1968. Buried in the tomb are not only the recipients of the ...

Sources

Salaj, Đuro
1889 births 1958 deaths People from Valpovo People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia League of Communists of Croatia politicians Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery {{Europe-politician-stub