Ognjen Prica (27 November 1899 – 9 July 1941) was a Yugoslav communist politician and journalist known for his roles in the

League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia , SKOJ mk, Сојуз на комунистичката младина на Југославија, СКМЈ sl, Zveza komunistične mladine Jugoslavije, ZKMJ , colorcode = red , founded = 1919 , dissolved = 1948 , succeeded by = League of S ...

and the League of Communists of Croatia. He was a victim of the Nazi-backed NDH in 1941 and was posthumously awarded the

Order of the People's 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 ...

Biography

Born in

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and is ...

, a suburb of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(present day

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 ...

) on 27 November 1899, Prica became interested in politics while studying mathematics and physics at 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 ...

. In 1921, he became the member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and was one of the founders of the

. From 1921 until 1923, Prica lived in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he finished his studies and worked in the Bureau of the Communist

Balkan Federation The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century ...

. Upon returning to Yugoslavia, he worked as a teacher in Sarajevo, but was also active in Communist politics. Because of that, Prica was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison. In prison and afterwards, he translated classic Marxist books to Serbo-Croatian. After his release in 1937, Prica became one of the leading members of the newly formed League of Communists of Croatia. In March 1941, a few days before the

Axis invasion of Yugoslavia An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

, he was arrested together with a large number of Croatian left-wing intellectuals and was sent to

Kerestinec camp Kerestinec camp was a prison that served as a concentration camp in Kerestinec, Croatia. It was located in the castle overlooking the village. Early 20th century Before the outbreak of World War II, the government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia buil ...

, where Prica was handed over to the

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Move ...

authorities a few weeks later. He was shot as a retaliation for Partisan activity together with Zvonimir Richtmann, Božidar Adžija and Otokar Keršovani. After the war, Prica was posthumously awarded the

on 26 July 1945.

Orders

: 26 July 1945

References

External links

Ognjen Prica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prica, Ognjen 1899 births 1941 deaths People from Ilidža Yugoslav politicians League of Communists of Yugoslavia politicians League of Communists of Croatia politicians Yugoslav Partisans members Bosnia and Herzegovina civilians killed in World War II People executed by the Independent State of Croatia Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero