Željko Burić ( ; born 15 July 1955) is a Croatian ophthalmologist and politician serving as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

since 2013. Before taking mayoral office, he served as the director of the General Hospital of

Šibenik-Knin County Šibenik-Knin County (; hr, Šibensko-kninska županija ) is a county in southern Croatia, located in the north-central part of Dalmatia. The biggest city in the county is Šibenik, which also serves as county seat. Other notable towns in the co ...

in Šibenik.

Early life and education

Born in

, Burić spent his childhood and completed his elementary education in his hometown. After finishing elementary school, he decided to further his education in a gymnasium. He was enrolled at the

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

in 1974 and graduated in 1979. As a young physician, Burić followed the standard path of internship and passed his professional exam in June 1982. His first jobs were in field outpatient clinics in smaller towns such as Perković and Boraja until 1982. Afterwards he worked in emergency services until 1985. He then decided to return to school to specialize in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

, which had always interested him. His postgraduate study in this area ended in 1988. In 2003 he enrolled in a Postgraduate Clinical Health Management Study which he completed in 2004. In the 1990s Burić joined the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

and was awarded the

Homeland War Memorial Medal The Homeland War Memorial ( hr, Spomenica Domovinskog rata) is a Croatian state medal awarded to both Croatian and foreign citizens who participated in the nation's Croatian War of Independence as a volunteer, part of the Croatian Army and Croat ...

Medical career

From January 1999 until he was elected mayor of Šibenik in June 2013, Burić served as the director of the General Hospital of the

based in

. He had participated in national and international congresses, and medical consultations and seminars.

Political career

In 1973 Burić joined the

League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia ( sh, Savez komunista Hrvatske or SKH) was the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (''Komunistička ...

(SKH), but following the

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

he left the party and joined the

Croatian Social Liberal Party The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( hr, Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS was formed in 1989 as the first Croatian political party formed after the reintroduction of mult ...

(HSLS) in 1992. Burić had also served as Šibenik city councillor and in one term as

assemblyman. In 2010 he joined the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Croa ...

(HDZ). He is currently the president of the party's branch in Šibenik. In January 2020 Burić, along with

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Goran Pauk Goran Pauk (born 23 April 1962) is a Croatian politician who served as Prefect of Šibenik-Knin County from 2006 to 2021. He has been the longest-serving prefect of the county since Croatia's independence in 1991. Before entering politics, he wa ...

, openly supported

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Croatia since 19 October 2016. He was previously one of eleven Croatian members of the European Parliament, serving from Croatia's ...

's candidacy for the second consecutive term as the HDZ president.

Mayor of Šibenik

In the mayoral elections in May/June 2013, Burić was nominated by the coalition of the HDZ, HSP, HSS and HČSP as a candidate for the position of mayor of Šibenik. He won the seat in the second round of voting on 2 June, winning 49.84 per cent of the votes. Burić was re-elected as mayor in the mayoral elections in June 2017, winning 69.78 per cent of the votes in the run-off. In the 2021 mayoral elections, Burić was elected mayor for the third consecutive time, winning 10,844 votes or 64 per cent of the votes in the run-off.

Personal life

Burić is married with son and two daughters. He lives in a family home in his hometown of

, and enjoys reading good literature,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

in the nature and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

in the summer months. He prefers to listen to Croatian singer-songwriter,

Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni Zlatan Stipišić (born 13 August 1968), also known as Gibonni, is a Croatian singer-songwriter and composer. He is one of the most successful and awarded recording artists from Croatia, receiving record-high 43 Porin music awards for his albums ...

References

External links

Željko Burić
at Gradonačelnik.hr Croatian Democratic Union politicians 1955 births Living people Mayors of places in Croatia People from Šibenik {{Croatia-mayor-stub