Konstantin "Koča" Popović ( sr-cyrl, Константин "Коча" Поповић; 14 March 1908 – 20 October 1992) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

volunteer in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, 1937–1939 and Divisional Commander of the First Proletarian Division 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 ...

. He is on occasion referred to as "the man who saved the Yugoslav Partisans", because it was he who anticipated the weakest point in the Axis lines on the Zelengora– Kalinovik axis, and devised the plan for breaking through it during the Battle of Sutjeska, thus saving

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 ...

, his headquarters and the rest of the resistance movement. After the war, he served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army, before moving to the position of

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and spent the final years of his political career as Vice President of Yugoslavia. Despite being 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 ...

, Popović was a supporter of free-market reforms and was also a member of a group of Serbian liberals, a prominent political movement in the 1970s, which also included

Marko Nikezić Marko Nikezić ( Serbian: Марко Никезић; 13 June 1921 – 6 January 1991) was a Serbian politician. He was a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia and Chairman of the League of Communists of Serbia. He was dismissed in 1972 under ...

and Latinka Perović. He retired in 1972, amidst pressure against his group of liberals. He spent the rest of his life in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

and was very outspoken against the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

and the regimes of

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

and

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 ...

. In his youth, Popović was one of the founding members of the Serbian

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

movement. He co-wrote a book with Marko Ristić. Also, Popović was among the founders of the Yugoslav Sports Association Partizan and

FK Partizan Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; ), often referred to in English as Partizan Belgrade, is a Serbian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Belgrade. It forms ...

, the football section of the Yugoslav Sports Association Partizan.

Biography

Popović came from a prosperous Belgrade family and spent the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He was also one of the thirteen signatories of the Serbian

manifesto in 1930. In 1929, Popović moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study

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 ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. Here he mixed with the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

world of poets, writers, artists and intellectuals. He became an active

, active in both the French and Serbian Surrealist groups. In 1931 ''Nacrt za jednu fenomenologiju iracionalnog'' (Outline for a Phenomenology of the Irrational) was published which he had co-written with Marko Ristić. Popović then became involved with the then illegal Yugoslav Communist Party. In Paris there was a center run by

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

and headed by

, which was used to feed volunteers from the Balkans to the Republicans in the

. Popović was drafted through this center along with a select group of Party members. Popović fought with Spanish Republican forces and not the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

, holding the rank of artillery captain. At the close of the Spanish Civil War Popović escaped through France and made his way back to Yugoslavia.

World War II

In 1940, as a reserve officer in 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 ...

, Popović was mobilized and told by his Colonel to watch out for subversive activities within the regiment. After the surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army to the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

in April 1941, Popović organized the

Kosmaj Kosmaj (Serbian Cyrillic: Космај, ) is a mountain south of Belgrade. With an elevation of 626 meters, it is the highest point of the entire Belgrade City area and is nicknamed one of two "Belgrade mountains" (the other being the mountain o ...

detachment during the uprising in Serbia. On the formation of the First Proletarian Brigade, Popović became its commander, and subsequently commanded the First Proletarian Division. During his time leading the Partisans he encountered William Deakin, leader of the British military mission to Tito's headquarters, who wrote of Popović:

Post-war

Alongside dozens of other WW2 and Spanish Civil War veterans, Popović was among the founding fathers of the Partizan Belgrade football club in October 1945. After the establishment of a communist regime in

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 ...

in 1945, he served as the Chief of the Yugoslavian General Staff from 1945 until 1953. In this function he also conducted negotiations with the representatives of Western powers associated with the modernisation of the JNA during the conflict with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(i.e., Informbiro). Consequently, Popović became the

of Yugoslavia in 1953 and held this office until 1965. As Foreign Minister, he was the head of the Yugoslav delegation to the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

sessions on several occasions. From 1965 until 1972, Popović acted as a member of the Federal Executive Council and the Vice President of Yugoslavia from 1966 until 1967. In 1985, he and

Peko Dapčević Peko Dapčević (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Пеко Дапчевић; 25 June 1913 – 10 February 1999) was a Yugoslav communist who fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, joined the Partisan uprising in Montenegro, and became com ...

were considered for promotion in rank

General of the Army Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

, but they both rejected the proposition. Popović died 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 ...

in 1992 at the age of 84.

Honours

References

External links