Branko Pešić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко Пешић, ; 1 October 1922 – 4 February 1986) was a Serbian politician in

SFR 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 ...

. Pešić was a member of 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 ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

and was 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 ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

from 1965 to 1974. He is widely remembered as one of the most popular Belgrade mayors as his decade-long tenure saw the construction and completion of many important projects.

Career

Pešić was born on 1 October 1922 in Zemun to father Dimitrije "Mita" (1900–1976) and mother Anka (1897–1983). He completed elementary school in Zemun and high school at the

Zemun Gymnasium The Zemun Gymnasium () is the most prominent gymnasium in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in Belgrade’s Zemun municipality. Founded in 1858, it's Belgrade second oldest, after the First Belgrade Gymnasium (founded in 1839), and Serbia's sixth ...

. After that he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

. As a student of the Zemun Gymnasium, he joined the youth revolutionary movement and became a member of the

League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia The League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia (SSOJ) was the youth movement, member organisation of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ). Membership stood at more than 3.6 million individuals in 1983. It was originally est ...

(SKOJ). After the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

and occupation of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

in 1941, he left his studies and joined the anti-fascist movement in Yugoslavia. He first worked politically in occupied Zemun and its surroundings where he took part in preparing and organizing sabotages and diversions against the occupying forces. He later joined the

where he entered into Bosnia as a member of the Vojvodina Brigades. During the war he was a political commissar and battalion commander. He became a member of the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

(KPJ) in 1942. After the end of the war, he graduated from the

Đuro Đaković Đuro Đaković (30 November 1886 – 25 April 1929) was a Yugoslav metal worker, communism, communist and revolutionary. Đaković was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, organizational secretary of the Central Commit ...

Political School and had various political functions. He was a member and secretary of the Committee of the

Communist Party of Serbia The League of Communists of Serbia (, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the ruling political party of Serbia from 1945 to 1990. It was the Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, ...

for Zemun, the SKOJ Committee secretary for Zemun and

, member and secretary of the City Committee for the League of Communists of Serbia and the president of the

Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia The Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ), known before 1953 as the People's Front of Yugoslavia (NFJ), was the largest and most influential mass organization in SFR Yugoslavia from August 1945 through 1990. It succeeded the ...

City Council for Belgrade. He was also a member of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the People's Youth of Serbia, the president of the Zemun City Municipality Assembly from 1955 to 1958, an instructor in the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia, secretary for commodity traffic in the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and the Vice-

President of the Presidency of SR Serbia The office of the president of the presidency of the Socialist Republic of Serbia existed from its establishment in the 1974 constitution to its renaming and then total abolishment as part of democratic reforms in 1990. A Presidium of Yugoslavia, ...

. He was also President of the Assembly of SR Serbia from 1982 to 1984. He was chosen as a Member of Parliament of the Republic Assembly of SR Serbia and the SFR Yugoslavia Assembly numerous times. He was chosen as a member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia at the Fourth and Fifth Congresses of the party. He also served as president of the

Football Association of Yugoslavia The Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ) (, ; ; ) was the governing body of football in Yugoslavia, based in Belgrade, with a major administrative branch in Zagreb. It organized the Yugoslav First League, the Yugoslavia national football t ...

from 1953–1955 and 1956–1957.

As mayor

Pešić was Mayor of Belgrade from 1965 to 1974 and was one of the most popular mayors of Belgrade. During his tenure, many important buildings were built such as the Mostar interchange,

Gazela Bridge The Gazela Bridge () is the most important bridge over the Sava river in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a part of the city highway, and it lies on the local M11 expressway, on the expressway passing through the wider city center, conne ...

, Terazije Tunnel and the

Beograđanka The Beograđanka ( sr-Cyrl, Београђанка; , lit. "Belgrade Lady"), officially ''Belgrade Palace'' (, ) is a modern high-rise building in the Belgrade downtown area. A tall structure, it is one of the symbols of the city and represent ...

among others. During his tenure, the ambitious plan of lowering Belgrade onto its surrounding rivers (Belgrade on the Sava) was introduced along with initiating the

Belgrade railway junction The Belgrade railway junction (, ) is a large-scale reconstruction of the rail network in Belgrade, Serbia. It was launched 1971 with works officially starting 1974 with the construction of the New Railway Bridge. The central part of the scheme i ...

and the Belgrade Metro. For a time, his economic advisor was

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

after his graduation from university in 1966. Pešić's tenure as mayor is often referred to as the

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

of Belgrade for which he was nicknamed the

Pericles Pericles (; ; –429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Ancient Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed ...

from Zemun.

Personal life

Pešić married twice. From his first marriage with professor Zagorka Golubović he had a daughter named Branislava and from his second marriage with Desanka Desa Pešić he had a son Lazar and a daughter Sofija.Jevtić, Miloš (2017). Poduhvati Branka Pešića. Beograd: Klub matične kulture Zemuna. COBISS.SR 229992204

Death and legacy

During his lifetime, he was awarded many Yugoslav awards including the

Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 The Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 (Macedonian language, Macedonian, Slovene language, Slovene and sh-Latn-Cyrl, Partizanska spomenica 1941., Партизанска споменица 1941., separator=" / ") is a commemorative Soci ...

among others. He was awarded the

Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour ( / , , ) was the fourth highest state decoration awarded in Yugoslavia.Zemun Cemetery. A street in Zemun, near his family home, bears his name. The elementary school in Zemun has also been named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pesic, Branko 1922 births 1986 deaths People from Zemun Mayors of Belgrade Mayors of places in Yugoslavia Yugoslav Partisans members League of Communists of Serbia politicians Serbian sports executives and administrators Yugoslavia national football team managers University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Deaths from cancer in Yugoslavia Recipients of the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour