Nikola Ljubičić (
Serbian Cyrillic
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, t ...
: Никола Љубичић; 4 April 1916 – 13 April 2005) was the
President of the Presidency of Serbia (1982–1984), a member of the
(1984–1989), and the Minister of Defence of Yugoslavia (1967–1982). He received numerous medals both from Yugoslavia and abroad, including the
Order of the National Hero
The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; sl, Red narodnega heroja, mk, Oрден на народен херој, Orden na ...
of Yugoslavia.
Biography
Ljubičić was born in the village of
Karan
Karan may refer to:
People
* Karan (given name), an Indian given name
* Karan (caste), an Indian caste
* Karan Kayastha, a community of Kayastha in Bihar, India
* Karan (surname)
Places
* Karan, Iran (disambiguation), a name for various vi ...
, near
Užice
Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 59,747. The C ...
. He fought in
World War II
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 opposing ...
alongside
Josip Broz Tito for the
Yugoslav partisan
The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
movement and was proclaimed a Yugoslav
national hero
The title of Hero is presented by various governments in recognition of acts of self-sacrifice to the state, and great achievements in combat or labor. It is originally a Soviet-type honor, and is continued by several nations including Belarus, Ru ...
on the 27 November 1953 for his actions in the war.
Nikola Ljubičić joined the
Partisans at the start of the war in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in 1941. He served with distinction, courage and heroism in the face of death. During the war he was put in charge of numerous units, moving through the ranks of the Partisan army. Forty-one years after his first steps upon the battlefields of Yugoslavia, he retired from the
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 ...
as a four-star General of the Army and Minister of Defence.
In 1982 Nikola Ljubičić took up the position of President of the Presidency of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
. He remained in this position until 1984. From 1984 to 1989 he was a member of the Presidency of the
Socialist Federal Republic of 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 Yu ...
.
He died in
Belgrade on 13 April 2005, aged 89, and was buried with
full military honors in the
Alley of Distinguished Citizens
The New Cemetery ( sr, Ново гробље, ''Novo groblje'') is a cemetery complex in Belgrade, Serbia, with a distinct history. It is located in Ruzveltova street in Zvezdara municipality. The cemetery was built in 1886 as the third Christia ...
of the New Cemetery in Belgrade.
There are a number of publications on his work such as the Total National Defence – Strategy for Peace (published in 1977 in numerous languages, including
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
), and his own memoirs of World War II in the book ''"U Titovoj koloni"'' ("Marching with Tito"; published in 2006).
See also
*
Organization of the League of Communists in the Yugoslav People's Army
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ljubicic, Nikola
1916 births
2005 deaths
Military personnel from Užice
Yugoslav generals
Yugoslav Partisans members
Presidents of Serbia within Yugoslavia
Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero
League of Communists of Serbia politicians
Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army
Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery
Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia members
League of Communists – Movement for Yugoslavia politicians
Government ministers of Yugoslavia
Recipients of the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour