Mladen Iveković (1 April 1903 – 18 December 1970) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n politician and diplomat. Born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Iveković studied law at the

Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb The Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb (, , PFZG) is the law school of the University of Zagreb. Founded in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa as part of her comprehensive reforms in the system of education in the Habsburg monarchy, it is the ...

and at the

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjo ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He obtained his

doctoral degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the Zagreb University in 1928. Iveković contributed to start of publication of a number of newspapers in 1930s while serving as the secretary of the Zagreb Crafts Chamber. As a member of 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 ...

, Iveković actively organised foreign volunteers for service in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. His

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

included: Ivan Mladenović, Kid, Luka Koren, Spektator, and Viator. As a member of the propaganda department 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 ...

(KPH), Iveković helped start ''Politički vjesnik'' in 1940 (renamed ''

Vjesnik ''Vjesnik'' () was a Croatian state-owned daily newspaper published in Zagreb. Originally established in 1940 as a wartime illegal publication of the Communist Party of Croatia, it later built and maintained a reputation as Croatia's newspaper ...

'' three years later), serving as its editor until 1945. Iveković was arrested and taken to the

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia durin ...

in January 1942. He was released in September, together with the 4th Secretary of the Communist Party of Croatia Andrija Hebrang in a

prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoner of war, prisoners of war, spy, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, cadaver, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conven ...

. Iveković was elected into the Executive Council of the

Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia,; ; commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberative and legislative body that was established in Bihać, Yugoslavia, in November 1942. It was established by Josip Broz T ...

(AVNOJ) at the AVNOJ's first session held in

Bihać Bihać is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una (Sava), Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in th ...

in 1942 and tasked with social policy matters. In 1943, he became the head of the propaganda service of the KPH for the region of

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

, and a member of the

State Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia The State Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia (''Zemaljsko antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Hrvatske''), commonly abbreviated ZAVNOH, was first convened on 13–14 June 1943 in Otočac and Plitvice as the ...

(ZAVNOH). Iveković also led ZAVNOH's propaganda activities, and was a member of its legislative commission. In the 1945 Government of the People's Republic of Croatia, Iveković was appointed industry and mining minister. ZAVNOH Mladen Ivekovic Topusko

After 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 was elected a member of the Yugoslav

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

and subsequently the member of the

federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch of Australia (represented by the governor ...

for Zagreb until 1963. From 1946 to 1947, he was Yugoslav representative to the Allied Commission for

World War II reparations After World War II, both the Federal Republic and Democratic Republic of Germany were obliged to pay war reparations to the Allied governments, according to the Potsdam Conference. Other Axis nations were obliged to pay war reparations accord ...

Bruxelles Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...

, Yugoslav ambassador to Italy in 1947–1952, and West Germany in 1952–1956 before serving as the Deputy Foreign Minister in 1956–1958. He was a member and the president of the administrative board of

Tanjug Tanjug (/'tʌnjʊg/) ( sr-cyr, Танјуг; sometimes stylized as TANJUG) was a Serbian state news agency based in Belgrade, which officially ceased to exist in March 2021. Since then, the Belgrade-based private company Tačno d.o.o., Tanjug Ta� ...

Yugoslav news agency from 1958 until he retired in 1963. In 1959, he became a member of the Central Committee of the KPH. He taught at the

Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb The Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb (, abbreviated FPZG) is one of the constituent institutions of the University of Zagreb. History The Faculty was founded by the Parliament of the People's Republic of Croatia on 23 February 1962 as par ...

in 1965–1966. He died in Zagreb. ;Bibliography * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iveković, Mladen 1903 births 1970 deaths Croatian communists Croatian people of World War II League of Communists of Croatia politicians Politicians from Zagreb Yugoslav communists