Slaven Letica (28 June 1947
– 25 October 2020) was a
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
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, capit ...
n author, economist,
commentator and politician.
Biography
A native of
Podgora, Letica graduated from the
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...
Faculty of Economics in 1971.
In the 1980s, Letica was a professor of
sociology of medicine
Medical sociology is the sociological analysis of medical organizations and institutions; the production of knowledge and selection of methods, the social actions, actions and interactions of healthcare professionals, and the social or cultural (r ...
at the
School of Medicine, University of Zagreb
The School of Medicine ( hr, Medicinski fakultet or MEF) in Zagreb is a Croatian medical school affiliated with the University of Zagreb. It is the oldest and biggest of the four medical schools in Croatia (the other three being in Osijek, Rijeka ...
and a consultant for the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
, working on health service management projects in a number of countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
In late 1980s, as the Communist grip on public discourse weakened, Letica began to use new freedoms to advocate various reforms. In doing so, he wrote many articles and columns and he began to appear in television talk shows and town hall meetings, quickly becoming one of the most popular and the most recognisable intellectuals in Yugoslavia.
In May 1990, after the first democratic elections,
Franjo Tuđman made him his personal advisor.
During negotiations which Tuđman pursued with the leader of the Serbs in Croatia,
Jovan Rašković
Jovan Rašković ( sr-cyr, Јован Рашковић, ; 5 July 1929 – 28 July 1992) was a Croatian Serb psychiatrist, academic and politician.
Early life
Rašković was born in Knin in 1929. During World War II, after an Ustasha pogrom which ...
, Letica leaked the transcript of the secretly recorded conversation between Tuđman and Rašković to the Croatian media, hoping that some of Rašković's controversial remarks would give offense to his fellow Croatian Serbs and turn them away from his secessionist policies. As a consequence, however, the comparably moderate Rašković was replaced by Serb radicals, which hastened the start of the
war in Croatia
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...
.
Letica and Tuđman parted ways in March 1991 due to disagreement about Croatian politics towards
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 ...
.
In the following years Letica continued to appear in the Croatian media as a commentator, espousing opposition views, and became a regular columnist for ''
Globus
Globus is Latin for ''sphere'' or ''globe''. It may also refer to:
Business
* Globus Medical, a medical device company in Audubon, PA
* Globus (clothing retailer), an Indian clothing retail store
* Globus (company), a Swiss department store c ...
'', a popular
news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...
.
During his time at ''Globus'' he gained some notoriety due to an unsigned 1992 opinion piece (which he eventually admitted to have written), titled "Croatian Feminists are Raping Croatia", in which he attacked five Croatian feminist writers (
Slavenka Drakulić,
Vesna Kesić,
Jelena Lovrić,
Dubravka Ugrešić and
Rada Iveković), accusing them of betraying Croatia. The article was a source of significant controversy which ultimately resulted in a successful defamation lawsuit against the magazine.
Political career
In the
2000 Croatian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Croatia in January 2000,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p410 the third since independence in 1991. They were also the first early presidential elections, as they ...
, Letica ran as an independent candidate. Although he finished fourth, the relatively high percentage of votes he won (4.14%) made him desirable to the
Croatian Party of Rights (HSP), a right-wing party in desperate need to tone down its negative far-right image. Letica, with his reputation of a refined urbanite and European intellectual, served this purpose very well and on the
2003 Croatian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections to elect all 151 members of the Croatian Parliament were held on 23 November 2003. They were the fifth parliamentary elections to take place since the first multi-party elections in 1990. Voter turnout was 61.7%. The result ...
, as a candidate on HSP's list, won a seat in the
Sabor
The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabo ...
(Croatian Parliament).
He also associated at one point with the
Croatian True Revival, a one-time political project of
Miroslav Tuđman and
Nenad Ivanković that failed to gain major traction in Croatian politics.
The HSP nevertheless used Letica again as their candidate in the
2005 Croatian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Croatia in January 2005, the fourth such elections since independence in 1991. They were the first presidential elections held after the constitutional changes of November 2000, which replaced a semi-presidentia ...
. When Letica won fewer votes than in 2000, 2.59%, he accused the HSP of not supporting him enough. He quit the party midway through his term and remained in the Sabor until January 2008 as an independent.
In the
2007 Croatian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Croatia on 25 November 2007 and for overseas voters on 24 and 25 November.[School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb ( hr, Stomatološki fakultet:, acronym: SFZG) School of Dental Medicine is a Croatian university for undergraduate and postgraduate education in the field of dental medicine in Croatia. The university was founded in 1922; ...]
. They had two sons, Bartol (born in 1976) and Frane (born in 1982).
Works
Selected books:
* ''Zdravstvo u Hrvatskoj: razvoj, stanje i perspektive'' (1981)
* ''Kriza i zdravstvo'' (1984)
* ''Zdravstvena politika u doba krize'' (1984)
* ''Intelektualac i kriza'' (1984)
* ''Četvrta Jugoslavija'' (1989)
* ''Obećana zemlja'' (1992)
* ''Divlje misli'' (1993)
* ''The Road from Paradise'' (1993, co-author)
* ''Habits of the Balkan Heart'' (1993, co-author)
* ''Postmoderna i genocid u Bosni i Hercegovini'' (1997, co-author)
* ''Političko pleme'' (1999)
* ''Strašni sud'' (2002)
* ''Medicinska sociologija'' (2003, co-author)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letica, Slaven
1947 births
2020 deaths
People from Podgora, Split-Dalmatia County
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb alumni
Croatian Party of Rights politicians
Croatian True Revival politicians
Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament
Academic staff of the University of Zagreb
Candidates for President of Croatia
Croatian sports executives and administrators
21st-century Croatian economists
20th-century male writers
21st-century male writers
Croatian sociologists
20th-century Croatian economists
Medical sociologists
Yugoslav economists
Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery
Tennis executives