Alija Sirotanović (14 August 1914 – 16 May 1990) was a Yugoslav miner,

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

and perhaps the most famous of all Yugoslav

udarnik An udarnik ( rus, уда́рник, p=ʊˈdarnʲɪk; English plural udarniks or udarniki), also known in English as a shock worker or strike worker (collectively known as shock brigades or a shock labour team) was a highly productive worker in th ...

s. He was held up by 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 ...

to be a model of a hard-worker in the

former 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 Yu ...

Early life and family

Alija Sirotanović, a

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

, was born in Orahovo, a village in central

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

near the town of Breza, and grew up in Trtorići, another nearby village. He was born in 1914, while

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

was a part of

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 ...

. He had six brothers and two sisters, all of whom were miners. One of his brothers, Ahmed, died in a mining disaster in 1970.

Mining record and fame

Sirotanović worked in the

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

in Breza. In 1947 Sirotanović set a record in coal extracting. On 24 July 1949, Sirotanović participated in an inter-mine competition at the mine at Kreka. He and his eight-man crew mined in an 8-hour shift 128 carloads of brown coal, that is, 152 tons of coal in a single shift, some 40 tonnes more than the first record of Soviet 'hero of labour'

Alexey Stakhanov Alexey Grigoryevich Stakhanov ( rus, Алексе́й Григо́рьевич Стаха́нов, p=staˈxanəf; 3 January 1906 – 5 November 1977) was a Soviet and Russian miner, Hero of Socialist Labour (1970), and a member of the CP ...

, although this is in dispute. The achievements of the Yugoslav miners were published on news front pages for weeks. In September 1949, the first "formal meeting of the initiators of the movement for high productivity" (''svečani sastanak inicijatora pokreta za visoku produktivnost'') was held, in which famous productive working record-holders participated, such as Alija Sirotanović, Nikola Skobić,

Risto Mijatović Risto ( sr, Ристо) is a masculine given name, found in Finnish, Estonian and South Slavic. In South Slavic, it is a hypocorism derived from '' Hristofor'' or ''Hristivoje''. It may refer to: Estonia * Risto Järv (born 1971), folklorist ...

, Antun Bičić, Alojz Petek, and others. As there was a Soviet–Yugoslav rift at the time of the contest, his accomplishment was widely praised and publicised by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

is said to have offered to fulfill any wish Sirotanović had, but all Sirotanović is reported to have requested was a bigger

shovel A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made of ...

. Tito granted his wish, and the larger shovel that was designed for him was later named after him: ''Sirotanovićka''. He was offered an appartement in Breza, but he refused and decided to stay in his house in Trtorići. The meeting between Sirotanović and leading politician

Svetozar Vukmanović Svetozar Vukmanović - Tempo ( sh-Cyrl, Светозар Вукмановић - Темпо; 3 August 1912 – 6 December 2000) was a leading Montenegrin communist and member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. D ...

was televised. Sirotanović tried to enter politics, but was unsuccessful. He was a member of the federal parliament for one term. He was retired with pension for merits. He was made an honorable member of the Union of Associations of Engineers and Technicians of Yugoslavia.

Legacy

He was held up by the

to be a model of a hard-worker. In 1987,

Zabranjeno Pušenje Zabranjeno pušenje () is a Bosnian rock band formed in Sarajevo in 1980. The group's musical style primarily consists of a distinctive garage rock sound with folk influences, often featuring innovative production and complex storytelling. Curre ...

recorded a song titled "''Srce, ruke i lopata''" (''Heart, Hands and Shovel''), paying tribute to "Comrade Avdija", the model of a hard working, modest man.

Banknote

He was pictured on the 20,000-

Yugoslav dinar The dinar (Cyrillic script: динар) was the currency of the three Yugoslav states: the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (formerly the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the Federal Republic of Yu ...

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

, but was often wrongly claimed to be pictured on the 10-dinar banknote. Despite the obvious similarities, the 10-dinar banknote and its 1000-old-dinar predecessor with the same design are older (1955) and showed

Arif Heralić Arif Heralić (5 May 1922 – 17 June 1971) was a Bosnian Roma metal worker on a blast furnace in Zenica. He had 11 children and issues with alcoholism and mental illness. As a disabled worker, Heralić died in extreme poverty in 1971. Banknote ...

, a metal worker working on a

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

Zenica Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. Th ...

. The newer 20,000-dinar banknote was brought out on

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

in 1987.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20051126110554/http://www.bhdani.com/arhiva/102/citanka02.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20050902124953/http://www.bhdani.com/arhiva/186/t18611.shtml
Alija on Leksikon YU mitologije

Text of song ''Srce, ruke i lopata''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirotanovic, Alija 1914 births 1990 deaths People from Breza, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims Yugoslav coal miners Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Recipients of the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour