Gorica Gajević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Горица Гајевић; 20 May 1958 – 16 December 2024) was a Serbian judge, lawyer, and politician.

Background

Gajević was born in

Valjevo Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 56,145 while the city admini ...

People's Republic of Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

on 20 May 1958. Her father, Arsenije Gajević, was an agronomy engineer, and her mother, Elvira Švikart, was a Swiss housewife. When she was five, they moved to Raška, where she grew up and graduated from the secondary school "25 May" in 1977. In 1981, she graduated from the

University of Belgrade Faculty of Law The Faculty of Law of the University in Belgrade (/''Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu''), also known as the Belgrade Law School, is one of the first-tier educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. The building is locate ...

. From 1982 to 1983 she was a trainee judge and then an expert associate from 1983 to 1984. Gajević died on 16 December 2024, at the age of 66.

Career

In 1984, she was appointed a judge in the Municipal Court of Raška where she served until 1989. She was an active member of the

League of Communists 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 ...

. In 1989, she became the president of the Municipal Committee of the

League of Communists of Serbia The League of Communists of Serbia (, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Serbia, political party of Socialist Republic of Serbia, Serbia from 19 ...

in Raška, which became the

Socialist Party of Serbia The Socialist Party of Serbia (, abbr. SPS) is a populist political party in Serbia. Ivica Dačić has led SPS as its president since 2006. SPS was founded in 1990 as a merger of the League of Communists of Serbia and Socialist Alliance ...

(SPS) in 1990. She held this position until 1992. From 1990 to 1993, she was an elected member of the Federal Chamber of Citizens (lower house). In 1995, after the resignation of

Milorad Vučelić Milorad Vučelić ( sr-Cyrl, Милорад Вучелић; born 17 June 1948) is a Serbian journalist and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of '' Večernje novosti'' and owner of Serbian weekly magazine '' Pečat''. Early life Vučelić w ...

, she became the head of the SPS parliamentary team. At the third SPS congress, held on 2 March 1996, she succeeded

Milomir Minić Milomir Minić ( sr-Cyrl, Миломир Минић; born 5 October 1950) is a Serbian professor, scientist and former politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2000 to 2001. Political career A member of the Socialist Party of ...

as General Secretary of the Socialist Party of Serbia. Shortly after, she was appointed vice-president of the Federal Chamber of the Republics (upper house). In October 2000, after the

overthrow of Slobodan Milošević The Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević began in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the general election on 24 September 2000 and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government on 5 October 2000. As such, it is commonly ...

, she was forced to resign from the General Secretary position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gajevic, Gorica 1958 births 2024 deaths Socialist Party of Serbia politicians Politicians from Valjevo People from Raška, Serbia League of Communists of Serbia politicians University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century Serbian judges Serbian people of Swiss descent Serbian women lawyers Serbian women in politics