Ivan Šibl (28 October 1917 – 30 March 1989) was a

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

officer and

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

Lieutenant Colonel General, as well as a writer and politician. Šibl was born in

Virovitica Virovitica () is a Croatian city near the Hungary, Hungarian border. It is situated near the Drava river and belongs to the historic region of Slavonia. Virovitica has a population of 14,688, with 21,291 people in the municipality (census 2011). I ...

. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he joined the anti-fascist movement led by the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

(KPJ). He was a member of a clandestine resistance group in Zagreb before becoming KPJ's

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

of the Banija Partisan Detachment and then the commissar of the Kalnik Partisan Detachment in 1942. The following year, Šibl became the commissar of the 2nd Operational Zone, and in 1944–1945 the KPJ's commissar of the 10th Corps of the Yugoslav Army. After the war, Šibl became the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the official gazette of the KPJ, the ''Borba'' in 1953–1954. He moved to the position of the general director of the Radio Television Zagreb in 1954–1963. In 1954, Šibl was appointed member of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia (, 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 (, KPH). The party dissolved in 1990. History ...

(nominally independent political organisation, and ''de facto'' a branch of the KPJ), a member of the Croatian

Sabor The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected ...

and the

Yugoslav Parliament The Parliament of Yugoslavia was the legislature of Yugoslavia. Before World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it was known as the National Assembly (''Narodna skupština''), while in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the name was c ...

in several terms. He was the head of the Croatian Association of Veterans of the National Liberation War in 1969–1971. During the

Croatian Spring The Croatian Spring (), or Maspok, was a political conflict that took place from 1967 to 1971 in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, at the time part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As one of six republics comprising Yugoslavi ...

, Šibl supported the reformist leadership of the

Socialist Republic of Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

led by

Savka Dabčević-Kučar Savka Dabčević-Kučar (6 December 1923 – 6 August 2009) was a Croatian politician. She was one of the most influential Croatian female politicians during the communist period, especially during the Croatian Spring when she was deposed. Sh ...

and

Miko Tripalo Ante "Miko" Tripalo (16 November 1926 – 11 December 1995) was a Yugoslavian Croatian politician. He was one of the members of Croatian Spring, a movement for higher level of autonomy of SR Croatia within SFR Yugoslavia. Biography A son of a ...

. Following the defeat of Dabčević-Kučar and Tripalo and suppression of Croatian Spring in late 1971, Šibl was removed from all party and state functions. Since 1950s, Šibl wrote several works containing autobiographical elements. His works were subsequently used as the basis for film screenplays of ''

We're Going Separate Ways ''We're Going Separate Ways'' (''Naši se putovi razilaze'') is a Croatian World War II melodrama directed by Šime Šimatović. It was released in 1957 and preserved by Croatian national archive. The film was seen as perpetuating socialist re ...

'', ''

When You Hear the Bells ''When You Hear the Bells'' () is a 1969 Croatian war film directed by Antun Vrdoljak. It was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Silver Prize. In 1999, a poll of Croatian film critics found it to be one of the ...

'', ''

The Pine Tree in the Mountain ''The Pine Tree in the Mountain'' (''U gori raste zelen bor'') is a Croatian film directed by Antun Vrdoljak. Set during World War II the film follows the exploits of a detachment of partisans, concentrating on the personal and professional relat ...

'', and as the literary basis for television drama series ''Sumorna jesen''. Šibl's principal literary works are ''Zagrebačka oblast u narodnooslobodilačkoj borbi'' ("Zagreb District in the People's Liberation Struggle"), ''Iz ilegalnog Zagreba 1941'' ("From Clandestine Zagreb 1941"), ''Partizanski razgovori'' ("Partisan Talks"), ''Ratni dnevnik'' ("Wartime Diary"), and ''Sjećanja'' ("Memories"). Lifetime achievement award by the Croatia's public television and radio broadcasting company

Hrvatska radiotelevizija ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' ( HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is a Croatian public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into three ...

is named after Šibl.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Šibl, Ivan 1917 births 1989 deaths People from Virovitica 20th-century Croatian writers Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army Yugoslav communists Yugoslav Partisans members Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery