Vladimir "Vlado" Gotovac (18 September 1930 – 7 December 2000) was a Croatian poet and politician.
Early activism
In the late 1960s, Gotovac joined the Croatian movement demanding political and economic reform, which eventually led to the
Croatian Spring in the early 1970s. Unlike the
Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, the Croatian Spring wasn't violently quashed by military use, although it resulted the period known as "the Croatian silence", alluding to the Yugoslav government's tremendous skill in suppressing any opposition or criticism.
Before being arrested in 1971 Gotovac became the editor-in-chief of ''Hrvatski Tjednik'' (''The Croatian Weekly''), which historian Marcus Tanner explains, "was a real phenomenon – a mass-circulation newspaper with an enormous audience that went way beyond the confines of the Communist Party and made a national reputation."
Imprisonment
Growing up in
Tito's Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, Gotovac was arrested in January 1972 and sentenced to four years in prison, based on charges of being a "separatist" and "nationalist". In an interview with Swedish television in 1978 he reflected rather dejectedly about his experience:
"No basis was found in my actions or in my activities, but, rather, like in all such processes, criminal actions were assumed and corroborated, not only in my case, but in the cases of a whole group of others whom I know."
Gotovac continued to write in prison, with his most famous piece being his diary, ''Zvjezdana Kuga'' ("Starry Plague"), published some twenty years after his release in 1978. And whilst he spent his pre-prison years working as a journalist and editor for
TV Zagreb as well as writing literary pieces, he gradually moved into politics after being released from prison.
Life after release
In an interview for a Swedish television channel in 1978 he was asked to elaborate upon his own philosophical beliefs, and he said:
:"My entire life I’ve dreamt of a socially just society and exactly for this reason I’ve always been left-oriented. I believed only when justice and freedom existed could human problems be solved. I always believed that only through the solution of these problems could human values be realized. A free individual, an individual who lives justly, only this individual can offer all which the human being has to offer, all of his greatness and all of his human dignity."
[Katch, 51]
His experience in Croatia, dominated by communism, did not manage to pervert or shatter his own view of socialism; rather he felt that the sort of socialism he believed in had nothing whatsoever to do with communism, an ideology that he viewed as nothing more than centralist totalitarianism, of which its followers, he said, "are incapable of thinking freely. They do not know what freedom is!"
In 1989, Gotovac joined the newly formed
Croatian Social Liberal Party
The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( hr, Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS was formed in 1989 as the first Croatian political party formed after the reintroduction of mult ...
. Due to his passionate eloquence he became one of its most prominent members. As such, he worked very hard to find proper balance between Croatian nationalism and
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
. In 1991 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 ...
during a protest rally held in front of
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...
headquarters. He made passionate and defiant speech responding to the generals who at the time were making many threats against Croatia.
In the period from 1990 to 1996 he served as the president of
Matica hrvatska.
Political career
Gotovac entered 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 ...
in 1992 where his passion and eloquence made him into one of the most popular and charismatic Croatian politicians. His harsh criticism of
Franjo Tuđman and his authoritarian policies made him into one of the rallying figure of Croatian opposition.
In mid-1990s Gotovac replaced
Dražen Budiša
Dražen Budiša (born 25 July 1948) is a Croatian politician who used to be a leading opposition figure in the 1990s and a two-time presidential candidate. As president of the Croatian Social Liberal Party through the 1990s he remains to date the ...
at the leadership of
Croatian Social Liberal Party
The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( hr, Hrvatska socijalno-liberalna stranka or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS was formed in 1989 as the first Croatian political party formed after the reintroduction of mult ...
("HSLS"). His tenure was brief but it also revealed his lack of political talent. During the
Zagreb Crisis he allowed himself to be manipulated into embarrassing negotiations with the
Croatian Democratic Union, which harmed the reputation of party and its unity.
In 1996 he was chosen as president of the HSLS, where he told his audience: "Do not fear, this is our country and we have the right to rule it as we like!"
In that same year he ran as a presidential candidate, but was assaulted during the campaign. He did not win the presidency instead it was claimed by Franjo Tuđman, a fellow former dissident. But Tuđman's victory was disputed by Gotovac, who accused him of manipulating the results. As president, Tuđman did not undertake the sort of reforms hoped for by Gotovac and others, rather he became autocratic, suppressing the media if it dared to criticize him or his system, as well as limiting the civil and political rights of Croatian citizens. The following year Gotovac split from the HSLS to form the Liberal Party. Gotovac participated in a region wide movement of writers becoming politicians, for this occurrence took place in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
and
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, with
Václav Havel
Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...
being one of the most famous writers turned statesman.
Gotovac tried running as a candidate of Croatian centrist and liberal opposition on 1997 presidential election. During the campaign rally in
Pula he was assaulted and injured by a Croatian Army officer Tomislav Brzović who was under influence of alcohol and was shouting "Long live
Ante Pavelić
Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, l ...
. I am
Ustaša, I will kill you all", upon being arrested. Later it was revealed that Brzović was member of elite security unit guarding president
Franjo Tuđman. The incident didn't have much impact on the campaign. This led to the formal split in HSLS. Dražen Budiša, advocating more populist rhetoric and future coalition with HDZ, regained the party leadership. Gotovac, who advocated HSLS remaining true to liberal principles, left HSLS and formed new
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. This party failed to attract majority of HSLS membership and its voters.
Ironically, Budiša, instead of aligning with HDZ, made a coalition with SDP instead in 1998. LS was left out of it and LS entered Sabor in 2000 only by joining the bloc of centrist parties led by the
Croatian Peasant Party
The Croatian Peasant Party ( hr, Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) is an agrarian political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The Brothers Radić believed that t ...
.
Death
On 7 December 2000 Gotovac died in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, aged 70, from a
liver cancer as a complications based on
hepatitis
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...
, caused by infected injection needle used in his prison infirmary.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotovac, Vladimir
1930 births
2000 deaths
People from Imotski
Croatian Social Liberal Party politicians
Liberal Party (Croatia) politicians
Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament
Candidates for President of Croatia
Croatian dissidents
Croatian male poets
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni
Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery
Yugoslav dissidents
20th-century Croatian poets
20th-century male writers
Croatian independence activists