Željko Burić ( ; born 15 July 1955) is a Croatian ophthalmologist and politician who has been serving as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

since 2013. Before taking mayoral office, he served as the director of the General Hospital of

Šibenik-Knin County Šibenik-Knin County (; ) is a county in southern Croatia, located in the north-central part of Dalmatia. The biggest city in the county is Šibenik, which also serves as county seat. Other notable towns in the county are Knin, Vodice, Drniš a ...

in Šibenik.

Early life and education

Born in

, Burić spent his childhood and completed his elementary education in his hometown. After finishing elementary school, he decided to further his education in a gymnasium. He was enrolled at the

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

in 1974 and graduated in 1979. As a young physician, Burić followed the standard path of internship and passed his professional exam in June 1982. His first jobs were in field outpatient clinics in smaller towns such as Perković and Boraja until 1982. Afterwards he worked in emergency services until 1985. He then decided to return to school to specialize in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

, which had always interested him. His postgraduate study in this area ended in 1988. In 2003 he enrolled in a Postgraduate Clinical Health Management Study which he completed in 2004. In the 1990s Burić joined the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

and was awarded the Homeland War Memorial Medal.

Medical career

From January 1999 until he was elected mayor of Šibenik in June 2013, Burić served as the director of the General Hospital of the

based in

. He had participated in national and international congresses, and medical consultations and seminars.

Political career

In 1973 Burić joined the

League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia (, SKH) was the Socialist Republic of Croatia, Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (, KPH). The party ...

(SKH), but following the

breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

he left the party and joined the

Croatian Social Liberal Party The Croatian Social Liberal Party ( or HSLS) is a conservative-liberal political party in Croatia. The HSLS were established in May 1989 in Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#Li ...

(HSLS) in 1992. Burić had also served as Šibenik city councillor and in one term as

assemblyman. In 2010 he joined the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ). He is currently the president of the party's branch in Šibenik. In January 2020 Burić, along with

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Goran Pauk, openly supported

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician serving as the Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minister of Croatia since October 2016. He was previously one of eleven List of members of the European Parliament for Croatia, 201 ...

's candidacy for the second consecutive term as the HDZ president.

Mayor of Šibenik

In the mayoral elections in May/June 2013, Burić was nominated by the coalition of the HDZ, HSP, HSS and HČSP as a candidate for the position of mayor of Šibenik. He won the seat in the second round of voting on 2 June, winning 49.84 per cent of the votes. Burić was re-elected as mayor in the mayoral elections in June 2017, winning 69.78 per cent of the votes in the run-off. In the 2021 mayoral elections, Burić was elected mayor for the third consecutive time, winning 10,844 votes or 64 per cent of the votes in the run-off.

Personal life

Burić is married with son and two daughters. He lives in a family home in his hometown of

, and enjoys reading good literature,

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

in the nature and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

in the summer months. He prefers to listen to Croatian singer-songwriter,

Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni Zlatan Stipišić (born 13 August 1968), also known as Gibonni, is a Croatian singer-songwriter and composer. He is one of the most successful and awarded recording artists from Croatia, receiving record-high 43 Porin music awards for his album ...

References

External links

Željko Burić
at Gradonačelnik.hr {{DEFAULTSORT:Burić, Željko Croatian Democratic Union politicians 1955 births Living people Mayors of places in Croatia People from Šibenik