Živojin "Žika" Lazić (; 12 February 1876 7 November 1958) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician who served as the first Ban of

Vardar Banovina The Vardar Banovina, or Vardar Banate ( mk, Вардарска бановина, Vardarska banovina; sr, Вардарска бановина, translit=Vardarska Banovina; al, Banovina e Vardarit, italics=no), was a province (banate) of the King ...

from 1929 to 1932 and the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 1932 to 1934.

Biography

Lazić was born in 1876 in

Svračkovci Svračkovci is a village in the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southe ...

, near

Gornji Milanovac Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 24,216, while the population of the municipality is 44,406. The town was foun ...

. He graduated from the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

and later specialized in the field of national security in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. From 1919 to 1921, he was the head of the Public Security Department of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

. In September 1923, he founded the

Association against Bulgarian Bandits The Association against Bulgarian Bandits ( sr, Удружење против бугарских бандита / Udruženje protiv bugarskih bandita) was a paramilitary organization based in Štip, then in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Sloven ...

, an organization whose goal was to prevent the support of the Macedonian population for the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

(IMRO). Prime Minister

Ljubomir Davidović Ljubomir Davidović (24 December 1863 – 19 February 1940) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who served as prime minister (1919–1920 and 1924) of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia). Biography Davidovi ...

openly disagreed with Lazić's decision to appoint former IMRO members Stojan Mishev and Grigor Ciklev to head the organization, to which Lazić replied that "he did not find a better mechanism than the mutual extermination of former and current Bulgarian

komitadjis Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas ( Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Комити, Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής, plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee mem ...

." In 1923, he also led the Yugoslav delegation to a conference that led to the signing of the Treaty of Niš, and was then appointed Deputy Minister of the Interior. In 1927, he participated as a public prosecutor in the

Skopje Student Trial The Skopje student trial began on December 5, 1927, in Skopje, then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The trial was against activists of the Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization. A total of 20 Macedonian Bulgarians, Macedonian Bulgarian ...

against the

Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization The Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization or MYSRO ( bg, Македонска младежка тайна революционна организация, mk, Македонска младинска тајна револуционер ...

members. On 13 July 1928, under the orders of

Ivan Mihailov Ivan Mihailov Gavrilov ( bg, Иван Михайлов Гаврилов; mk, Ванчо Михајлов Гаврилов;He is credited in English-language sources as ''Mihailov'', while the Bulgarian and Macedonian transliteration schemes w ...

, IMRO member Ivan Momchilov carried out an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Lazić. Momchilov entered Lazić's office in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, tried to shoot him in the head, and then committed suicide. In 1929, Živojin Lazic was appointed Ban of the

with its headquarters in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

. He was in the leadership of the local board of the

Soko Soko ( sh-Cyrl, Соко) was a Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer based in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company was responsible for the production of many military aircraft for the Yugoslav Air Force. SOKO was created in 1950 by the rel ...

organization and

Narodna Odbrana Narodna Odbrana ( sr-cyr, Народна одбрана, literally, "The People's Defence" or "National Defence") was a Serbian nationalist organization established on October 8, 1908 as a reaction to the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia and ...

. In the period from 2 July 1932 to 20 December 1934, he served the

in the government led by the

Yugoslav National Party The Yugoslav National Party ( sh, Jugoslavenska nacionalna stranka, Југославенска национална странка, JNS; sl, Jugoslovanska nacionalna stranka), established as Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy ( sh, Jugoslavensk ...

. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the establishment of the new communist regime, Lazić left Yugoslavia and went overseas to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He died in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1958 at the age of 82, where he was buried.

References

Literature

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazic, Zivojin 1876 births 1958 deaths People from Gornji Milanovac University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Government ministers of Yugoslavia Yugoslav National Party politicians Yugoslav emigrants to Canada Serbian emigrants to Canada Bans of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Shooting survivors Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery