Jože Brilej (nom de guerre "Bolko," 1 January 1910 – 8 May 1981) was a Yugoslav jurist, politician,

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, Communist revolutionary, and close associate of

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

. During his diplomatic career, he was the Ambassador of Yugoslavia to the United Kingdom (1950-1952), Head of the Yugoslav mission to the United Nations (1954-1958), and Ambassador to Egypt (1961-1963 and 1968-1981).

Career

Brilej was born in Presečno, Dobje pri Planini,

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. He served as the Yugoslav

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Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

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, permanent representative of

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 ...

to the

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for life, President of the United Nations Security Council in 1956, member of the

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of the

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of '' Ljudska pravica'', and political commissar and

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in the Partisan National Liberation Army during

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Early life

Brilej was the youngest of ten children born in Presecno near Dobje pri Planini, then still part of the

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. His father died when he was very young, soon followed by his oldest brother, who had become provisional head of the family. A bright and gifted child, local

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priests recognised Brilej's merits at a young age and sponsored his further education at a private monastic boarding school and later at a

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, where he initially studied to become a priest. After completing his first year of seminary studies, Brilej realised his newly found political beliefs and relationship with his future wife were no longer aligned with that of the

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and he transferred to study

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at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

Early politics

In 1932, while still a student, he had become a fully fledged member of the Yugoslav Communist Party. In 1934 he was made the Yugoslav Communist Party delegate for

. At the same time he became the founding editor of the Communist Party newspaper '' Ljudska pravica'', the production and distribution of which was made illegal in 1936. During this period, Brilej was briefly arrested and imprisoned in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. In 1938 he graduated from the

with a

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. The same year he enrolled and began studies to become a medical doctor, which was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War.

World War II

As an active Yugoslav Communist Party and Slovenian

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party member before the war, he immediately joined the Slovene Partisans

Yugoslav Partisan 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 ...

liberation resistance army at the outbreak of

. He served as political commissar and as the equivalent rank of

in Tomsič Brigade in the Slovene Partisan army's 14th Division. Brilej's friend the poet and writer Karel " Kajuh" Destovnik was also in his brigade. Other friends and comrades in the 14th Division included Franc Rozman,

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, Joze Lampret, and Mirko Bracic. Throughout the war he used the

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"Bolko". He conducted many covert undercover intelligence operations during the war, as well as fighting in guerrilla campaigns and maintaining troop morale and

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. Due to his education and command of German he led numerous hostage negotiations and exchanges with Nazi officials often with his friend and comrade Aleš Bebler. He led his battalion on many missions to rescue Allied personnel who were trapped behind enemy lines or had become German prisoners. Mainly these were

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RAF pilots and soldiers. Most notably he led a successful rescue mission to rescue Major

Randolph Churchill Major (rank), Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer and politician. The only son of future List of British Prime Ministers, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a ...

and his battalion within half an hour of their being captured by the German forces.

Political and diplomatic career

He was Yugoslavia's first official ambassador to London, England. He was presented at the

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and succeeded in having the Federal Republic of

recognised by the British government. At the time of his appointment, he was Yugoslavia's youngest diplomat at a transitional time for

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with the funeral of King

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and the coronation of Queen

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. He was well received in England also due to his and his wife's wartime bravery, during which he rescued and safely returned many Allied and British personnel particularly from the RAF, most prominently Major

. During his time in London he became friends with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and Sir Fitzroy Maclean. As a result, he and President Tito hosted

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...

at Lake Bled,

as the first western leader to formally recognise the new country.

United Nations

His involvement with the

began in

and

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almost immediately after its founding after World War II, later in New York where he was also Ambassador of Yugoslavia. He was a member of

. He was elected President of the United Nations Security Council in 1956 at the

Headquarters of the United Nations , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004 (cropped).jpg , image_size = 275px , caption = View of the complex from Long Island City in 2021; from left to right: the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buil ...

New York. He remained a permanent representative for Yugoslavia to the United Nations throughout his life.

Personal life

He was the husband of Marta Brilej (1917–2016). They were married on 11 July 1936 at the Ljubljana Cathedral. They had a son, Joze Brilej (born 1937), and a daughter, Tatiana (Tatjana) Brilej (born 1947). Brilej died on 8 May 1981 in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He is buried at

Žale Žale Central Cemetery (), often simply Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad District and operated by the Žale Public Company. History The cemetery was built in 1906 behin ...

cemetery in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

alongside his wife Marta Brilej and opposite his lifelong friend, Partisan comrade and

Aleš Bebler.

Commemorations

Brilej Street () in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

is named after him. On 9 August 1987 a commemorative government plaque was unveiled on the house where he was born in Presečno, Dobje pri Planini.

Awards and decorations

Some of the awards and decorations of Jože Brilej include:

External links

*http://www.london.mfa.gov.rs/odrzavanje/stampa.php?id=1359042261&archive= *https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39786/page/1103 *http://spartacus-educational.com/PRchurchill.htm *http://www.hawaii.edu/uhwo/clear/HonoluluRecord/volume8/v8n42.pdf *http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44922431 *https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19501221&id=kLsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5usFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1505,405794 *https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38956/page/3366 *https://web.archive.org/web/20140603191241/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/FB6DD3F0E9535815852572DD006CC607 *http://kozjansko.info/2011/03/10-3-veleposlanik-v-londonu-dr-joze-brilej-svojim-volivcem/ *http://arsq.gov.si/Query/detail.aspx?ID=26406 *https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214442/http://www.uciteljneznalica.org/upload/ebook/814_%C4%90ilas,%20Milovan,%20Rise%20and%20Fall,%20Macmillan,%201985.pdf *http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/09/obituaries/joza-brilej-yugoslav-envoy-71-served-at-london-un-and-cairo.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20150924014920/http://www.foto.mij.rs/site/search?searchbox=brilej *http://grobovi.zale.si/en/Home/Preview?Names=brilej%20&OnlyFamus=False&IsComplex=False&UId=007906cb-1ec2-4213-9a16-5f599aa8ce8e *http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/DettaglioOnorificenze.aspx?decorato=33670 *

Slovene National Liberation Committee The Slovene National Liberation Committee (SNOS) (; , Словеначко народноослободилачко веће) was formed as the highest governing organ of anti-fascist movement of Slovenes during World War II. The president of its p ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brilej, Joze 1910 births 1981 deaths People from the Municipality of Dobje People from the Duchy of Styria League of Communists of Slovenia politicians Government ministers of Yugoslavia Members of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Permanent representatives of Yugoslavia to the United Nations Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to the United States Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Mexico Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Egypt Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Yemen Yugoslav judges University of Ljubljana alumni 20th-century Slovenian journalists Yugoslav Partisans members Slovene resistance members Recipients of the Order of National Liberation Grand Crosses of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Deaths from lung cancer in Yugoslavia