Muhamed Čengić (1942–26 October 2020) was 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 ...

politician who served as Vice President of the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čengić was born in

Miljevina Miljevina ( sr-cyrl, Миљевина) is a village in the municipality of Foča, Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina ...

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and a municipality located in Republika Srpska in south-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 18 ...

in a family of seven children. His father was Haki Bey an

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

. After attending a four-grade elementary school in his hometown, in 1953 Čengić continued his education in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

, where he finished 5th, 6th and 7th grade. He again returned to Foča, where he graduated from the elementary school and enrolled at the local five-grade gymnasium. After finishing three grades, the advanced students were given the opportunity to take exams for the last two grades jointly, thus becoming the first student from Foča to finish two grades in one year, graduating in 1960. After finishing gymnasium, Čengić enrolled at the Faculty of Machinery, University of Sarajevo. After graduating, he worked for ''Hermes'' and in 1975 started working for the

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

-based Lesina company, where he worked until February 1991. He was one of the founders of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA). In February 1992, during a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

, Čengić held talks with the Serb representative Radovan Karadžić, discussing the regionalisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina based on economic, national and cultural principles. President of the SDA Alija Izetbegović encouraged him to go public with the proposal at the session, however, the proposal was met with strong opposition among the Bosnian Muslim representatives. In 2010, he joined the

Democratic People's Union The Democratic People's Union ( Bosnian: ''Demokratska narodna zajednica'', DNZ) is a political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded in 1993 and first led by Fikret Abdić. In 2014 the Democratic People's Union saw a major split when ...

. Čengić died in Sarajevo and was buried at the Lav cemetery on 28 October 2020.

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References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cengic, Muhamed 1942 births 2020 deaths People from Foča Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Sarajevo alumni Party of Democratic Action politicians Democratic People's Union politicians Bosniak politicians