Arif Heralić (5 May 1922 – 17 June 1971)
was a
Bosnian Roma metal worker on a
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure.
In a ...
in
Zenica
Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...
. He had 11 children and issues with
alcoholism
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
and
mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
.
As a disabled worker, Heralić died in
extreme poverty
Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, ...
in 1971.
Banknote and iconography
His picture was taken by Nikola Bibić, a ''
Borba'' news photographer, in 1954
and from the papers he came to feature on a 1,000
Yugoslav dinar
The dinar ( sh-Cyrl, динар) was the currency of Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1920 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was replaced by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Th ...
banknote issued from 1955 to 1981, re-nominated to ten new dinars since 1965. He is still (as of 2023) popular as an icon of industrial worker in the
former Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
.
The banknote is not to be confused with the 20,000 dinar banknote, which depicts
Alija Sirotanović.
See also
*
Alija Sirotanović, model for a 20,000 dinara banknote
References
1922 births
1971 deaths
People from Zenica
Bosnia and Herzegovina Romani people
{{BosniaHerzegovina-bio-stub