Branko Pešić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко Пешић, ; 1 October 1922 – 4 February 1986) was a Serbian politician in

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. Pešić was a member of the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

from 1964 to 1974. He is widely remembered as one of the most popular Belgrade mayors as his decade-long tenure saw the construction and completion of many important projects.

Career

Pešić was born on 1 October 1922 in Zemun to father Dimitrije "Mita" (1900–1976) and mother Anka (1897–1983). He completed elementary school in Zemun and high school at the

Zemun Gymnasium The Zemun Gymnasium ( sr, Земунска гимназија, Zemunska gimnazija) is the most prominent gymnasium in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade’s Zemun municipality. Founded in 1858, it's Belgrade second oldest, after the ...

. After that he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

. As a student of the Zemun Gymnasium, he joined the youth revolutionary movement and became a member of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ). After the

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

and

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

in 1941, he left his studies and joined the anti-fascist movement in Yugoslavia. He first worked politically in occupied Zemun and its surroundings where he took part in preparing and organizing sabotages and diversions against the occupying forces. He later joined the

where he entered into Bosnia as a member of the Vojvodina Brigades. During the war he was a political commissar and battalion commander. He became a member of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

in 1942. After the end of the war, he graduated from the

Đuro Đaković Đuro Đaković (30 November 1886 – 25 April 1929) was a Yugoslav metal worker, communist and revolutionary. Đaković was the organizational secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, from April 1928 to April ...

Political School and had various political functions. He was a member and secretary of the Committee of the

Communist Party of Serbia , logo = , colorcode = , leader = President of the League of Communists of Serbia , predecessor = Provincial Committee for Serbia of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , merged = , successor = SPS , ...

for Zemun, the SKOJ Committee secretary for Zemun and

, member and secretary of the City Committee for the League of Communists of Serbia and the president of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia City Council for Belgrade. He was also a member of the Bureau of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the People's Youth of Serbia, the president of the Zemun City Municipality Assembly from 1955 to 1958, an instructor in the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia, secretary for commodity traffic in the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and the Vice- President of the Presidency of SR Serbia. He was also President of the Assembly of SR Serbia from 1982 to 1984. He was chosen as a Member of Parliament of the Republic Assembly of SR Serbia and the SFR Yugoslavia Assembly numerous times. He was chosen as a member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia at the Fourth and Fifth Congresses of the party. He also served as president of the

Football Association of Yugoslavia The Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ) ( sr, Фудбалски савез Југославије, Fudbalski savez Jugoslavije, hr, Nogometni savez Jugoslavije; bs, Fudbalski savez Jugoslavije; sl, Nogometna zveza Jugoslavije; mk, Фуд ...

from 1953–1955 and 1956–1957.

As mayor

Pešić was Mayor of Belgrade from 1964 to 1974 and was one of the most popular mayors of Belgrade. During his tenure, many important buildings were built such as the

Mostar interchange Mostar interchange or colloquially Mostar () is a major interchange and a surrounding urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac. Interchange The Mostar looped interchange ...

Gazela Bridge The Gazela Bridge ( sr, Mост Газела, Most Gazela) is the most important bridge over the Sava river in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a part of the city highway and it lies on European route E75, on the highway passing through the ...

, Terazije Tunnel and the

Beograđanka The Beograđanka ( sr-Cyrl, Београђанка; , lit. "Belgrade Lady"), officially ''Belgrade Palace'' ( sr, Палата Београд, Palata Beograd, ) is a modern high-rise building in the Belgrade downtown area. A tall structure, it ...

among others. During his tenure, the ambitious plan of lowering Belgrade onto its surrounding rivers (Belgrade on the Sava) was introduced along with initiating the

Belgrade railway junction The Belgrade railway junction ( sr, Београдски железнички чвор, ) is a large-scale reconstruction of the rail network in Belgrade, Serbia. It was launched 1971 with works officially starting 1974 with the construction of th ...

and the

Belgrade Metro The Belgrade Metro ( sr, Београдски метро, Beogradski metro) is a planned rapid transit system in Belgrade, Serbia currently under construction. The construction of the full metro system has been delayed repeatedly, mostly due to ...

. For a time, his economic advisor was

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

after his graduation from university in 1966. Pešić's tenure as mayor is often referred to as the

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

of Belgrade for which he was nicknamed the

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelopo ...

from Zemun.

Personal life

Pešić married twice. From his first marriage with professor

Zagorka Golubović Zagorka Golubović (8 March 1930 – 13 March 2019) was a Serbian philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. Golubović was among the group of eight university professors, members of the Praxis school (Mihailo Marković, Ljubomir Tadić, Sve ...

he had a daughter named Branislava and from his second marriage with Desanka Desa Pešić he had a son Lazar and a daughter Sofija.Jevtić, Miloš (2017). Poduhvati Branka Pešića. Beograd: Klub matične kulture Zemuna. COBISS.SR 229992204

Death and legacy

During his lifetime, he was awarded many Yugoslav awards including the

Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 The Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 ( sh, Partizanska Spomenica 1941 / Партизанска Споменица 1941, sl, Partizanska spomenica 1941) is a commemorative Yugoslav medal instituted on 14 September 1944, awarded to tho ...

among others. He was awarded the

Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour ( sh, Orden junaka socijalističkog rada / , sl, Red junaka socialističnega dela, mk, Орден на јунак на социјалистичката работа) was the fourth highest state decoration ...

on 24 January 1986. Pešić died due to cancer on 4 February 1986 and is interred in a family plot in the

Zemun Cemetery Zemun Cemetery is a public cemetery situated in Zemun on the Gardoš Hill. It is bounded by Cara Dušana Street, Nade Dimić Street, Sibinjanin Janka Street and Grobljanska Street, as well as with the staircase towards the Branka Radičevića ...

. A street in Zemun, near his family home, bears his name. The elementary school in Zemun has also been named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pesic, Branko 1922 births 1986 deaths People from Zemun Mayors of Belgrade Yugoslav Partisans members League of Communists of Serbia politicians Serbian sports executives and administrators Yugoslavia national football team managers University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Deaths from cancer in Serbia Recipients of the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour