Anton Vratuša (born Vratussa Antal; 21 February 1915 – 30 July 2017) was a Slovenian politician and diplomat who was

Prime Minister of Slovenia The prime minister of Slovenia, officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (), is the Head of government, head of the Government of Slovenia, Government of the Slovenia, Republic of Slovenia. There have been nine offi ...

from 1978 to 1980, and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

's ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

.Anton Vratuša
sazu.si

Life

Vratuša was born in Alsócsalogány,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, today

Dolnji Slaveči Dolnji Slaveči (; ) is a village in the Municipality of Grad in the Prekmurje region of northeastern Slovenia. Name The name ''Dolnji Slaveči'' (literally, 'lower Slaveči') contrasts with the name ''Gornji Slaveči'' (literally, 'upper Slaveč ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. His parents were Antal Vratussa and Anna Bokán. He passed the exam for becoming a teacher of

stenography Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''s ...

. He defended his dissertation in Slavic studies at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana in 1941. After the outbreak of the

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was Invasion of Yugoslavia, invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis powers, Axis forces and partitioned among Nazi Germany, Germany, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), It ...

, Vratuša joined the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

, but was interned in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

concentration camps at

Gonars Gonars () is a town and (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in Friuli, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northeastern Italy. It is located near Palmanova. History World War II On 23 February 1942, the Fascist regime established ...

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

, and

Rab Rab may refer to: Places * Rab (island), an island in Croatia * Rab (town), on the island of Rab * Ráb, the Slovak name of Győr, a city in Hungary * Rąb, a village in Poland People * Rab (surname), includes a list of people with the n ...

from February 1942 to September 1943.Vratuša, Anton – Slovenska Akademija Znanosti in Umetnosti
sazu.si] After the concentration camp at Rab was liberated by the Partisans, Vratuša was named deputy commander of their

Rab battalion The Rab Battalion was a unit of the Yugoslav partisans during the Second World War. It was formed by and from Jewish survivors of Rab concentration camp upon their liberation in September 1943. Rab concentration camp was one of the Italian conc ...

, made up of camp survivors. He was also the head of the Yugoslav Partisans' delegation at the

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee (, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationist forces of the ...

, the

Italian Partisans The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

' underground political entity during the German occupation of Italy in the last years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he pursued an academic and diplomatic career. He was chief of staff to

Edvard Kardelj Edvard Kardelj (; 27 January 1910 – 10 February 1979), also known by the pseudonyms Bevc, Sperans, and Krištof, was a Yugoslav politician and economist. He was one of the leading members of the Communist Party of Slovenia before World War II ...

(1953–1965) and

's ambassador to the

(1967–1969). From April 1978 to July 1980, he was the prime minister of the Yugoslav

Socialist Republic of Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

. He was also a member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy. Cultural significance Establis ...

. He helped found the International Center for Promotion of Enterprises, formerly known as the International Center for Public Enterprises in Developing Countries, and he later served as the honorary president of its council.

Publications

Vratuša's published works include ''The Commune in Yugoslavia'' (1965) and ''Prospects of the Non-Aligned Movement'' (1981). From 1985 until 1988, he wrote various UN publications, especially in the fields of the

law of the sea Law of the sea (or ocean law) is a body of international law governing the rights and duties of State (polity), states in Ocean, maritime environments. It concerns matters such as navigational rights, sea mineral claims, and coastal waters juris ...

and politics in developing countries.

Death

Vratuša died on 30 July 2017 at the age of 102.

References

External links

*
"Survivors of war camp lament Italy's amnesia"

Biography at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
(in Slovene) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vratusa, Anton 1915 births 2017 deaths People from the Municipality of Grad League of Communists of Slovenia politicians Presidents of the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia Permanent representatives of Yugoslavia to the United Nations Slovenian people of World War II Yugoslav Partisans members Deputy prime ministers of Yugoslavia Slovenian communists Ethnic Slovene people Rab concentration camp survivors Slovenian men centenarians Slovenian people of Hungarian descent Members of the Central Committee of the 12th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia