Hasan Brkić (16 July 1913 – 14 June 1965), often referred to as Aco, was a Yugoslav and Bosnian communist politician and a

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

. He was also the recipient of

People's Hero of Yugoslavia The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...

. From 1963 to 1965 he was President of the Executive Council of the

Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

Early life

Brkić was born on 16 July 1913 in

Livno Livno ( Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: ''Ливно'', ) is a town and the administrative center of the Township of Livno and Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bis ...

where he attended elementary school. He attended gymnasium in

Bihać Bihać is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una (Sava), Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in th ...

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is the tr ...

and

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. After graduation from high school, Brkić attended

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

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 ...

where he graduated in 1937. During his high school days, he was a member of the Communist Party Youth. During his student days in

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 ...

he was prominent in leading the circles of the Revolutionary Students' Movement. 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 ...

in 1933. As a representative of the University of Belgrade, he participated, along with

Ivo Lola Ribar Ivan Ribar (23 April 1916 – 27 November 1943), known as Ivo Lola or Ivo Lolo, was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Croats, Croat communist politician and military leader. In the 1930s, he became one of the closest associates of Josip Broz Tito, leader of ...

and

Veljko Vlahović Veljko Vlahović ( Cyrillic: Вељко Влаховић; 2 September 1914 – 7 March 1975) was a Montenegrin politician and career army officer. He was one of the prominent members of the Montenegrin branch of the Yugoslav Communist Party from ...

, on the Congress of World Federation of Students in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1936. Because of his communist activities during the study, Brkić was repeatedly arrested by the police.

Communist activity

After he finished his study, Brkić went to Sarajevo and became an employee of the "Agrarna banka" (). Soon after he arrived in Sarajevo he made a connection with the Communist Party and again became politically active. Due to his communist activity, he was fired from the service in the bank, later he found a job as a municipal official, after which he worked as a law clerk. From 1938 along with attorneys of the Central Committee of the Communist party, he worked on the development and consultations of the organisations of the Communist Party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brkić also participated in the Fourth Regional Conference of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for Bosnia and Herzegovina held in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

in 1938. In 1940, he became a secretary of the Sarajevo District Committee for the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.

World War II

When the

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

started in April 1941, Brkić was mobilized to the

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the principal Army, ground force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It existed from the establishment of ...

. When

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 ...

capitulated, he was in service in

Sinj Sinj () is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. As of the 2021 Croatian census, 2021 census, the population was 23,500 people, of which 10,800 inhabited its urban core. Sinj is k ...

. After that, he returned to his hometown where he worked in the local organisation of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Soon he went to Sarajevo and started organising the rebellion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He participated in session of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina held on 13 July 1941, where Communist Party made decisions about the rebellion against the

Axis forces The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

. On this session, he became a commander of the Headquarters of Partisan detachments of Sarajevo District and he also participated in the creation of the earliest partisan detachments: Romanija detachment, Kalink detachment, and Detachment "Zvijezda" (). During the war, he held various posts, he was the political commissar of Partisan Detachment "Zvijezda", deputy of political commissar of the 6th Proletarian East Bosnian Shock Brigade and a political commissar of the 27th East Bosnian Brigade. He was a councilor of the

AVNOJ The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia,; ; commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberative and legislative body that was established in Bihać, Yugoslavia, in November 1942. It was established by Josip Broz ...

from November 1943 to 1945 and secretary of the

ZAVNOBiH The State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Zemaljsko antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Bosne i Hercegovine, Земаљско антифашистичко виjеће нар� ...

. During the war he was chosen as a member of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for Bosnia and Herzegovina and secretary of the Districts Committee for Eastern Bosnia. Even though he was a high-ranking party member during the war, he was often in contact with the enemy. In the battle against the ''

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...

'' in Han Pogled near

Han Pijesak Han Pijesak ( sr-cyrl, Хан Пијесак) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 3,530 inhabitants, while the town of Han Pijesak has a population of 1,820 inha ...

he distinguished himself by capturing an ''Ustašes stronghold. He was also successful in battle against

Chetniks The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...

Vareš Vareš ( cyrl, Вареш) is a town and municipality located in Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is famous for the local mi ...

railway where he, alongside Pero Kosorić, completely annihilated them.

Communist Yugoslavia

After the war was over, Brkić was in various posts in SFR Yugoslavia. He was a minister of finance in the First Government of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, state secretary of the National Agriculture and state deputy secretary in foreign affairs in the Government of the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia. From 1958 to 1961, he was a secretary of the industry of the Federal Executive Council, from 1961 to 1963 he was a vice president of the Executive Council of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and from 1963 until his death he was a president of the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (''de facto'' a prime minister). Along with the state posts, Brkić also held a number of posts within the Party. He was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a member of the Central Committee 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 ...

. From 1952 he was a member of the Executive Council of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and from 1965 had a rank of a colonel in

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

. Brkić dealt with economic policy and his works about it were published in journals "Naša stvarnost" () and "Pogled" () and others. In 1957, he published a book "U matici života" (). Brkić was decorated with

Partisan Memorial Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

(1941) and Order of People's Hero of Yugoslavia (27 November 1953). Brkić died on 14 June 1965 in Sarajevo and is buried at the

Bare cemetery The Bare Cemetery is a cemetery complex in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina opened in 1965, with the first funeral and interment occurring on 3 January 1966. The central part of the cemetery is a spacious plateau with a staircase and a porch tha ...

Footnotes

References

Books

* * * * * * *

External links

*People's Heros of Yugoslavia. Mladost, 1975. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brkic, Hasan 1913 births 1965 deaths People from Livno People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Members of the Central Committee of the 6th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 7th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 8th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina Members of the Central Committee of the 2nd Congress of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina Members of the Central Committee of the 4th Congress of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina Prime ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Members of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Bosnia and Herzegovina people of World War II Yugoslav Partisans members Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Recipients of the Order of National Liberation Burials at Bare Cemetery, Sarajevo