Muhamed Filipović (3 August 1929 – 25 February 2020) was a Bosnian academic, writer, essayist, theorist and philosopher. As a young man he took part in the communist takeover of power and

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 ...

in 1945. He worked as a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy at the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

. Some authors see him as one of the leading late 20th and early 21st century Bosniak academics.

Early life

Filipović was born on 3 August 1929 in

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 ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, then a part 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 ...

to Sulejman Filipović and his wife Đula. His mothers first cousins were Džafer and Osman Kulenović. He bore the surname Filipović, not only after his father but also after his mother. The Filipović family from his paternal side hail from

Glamoč Glamoč ( sr-cyrl, Гламоч) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Glamoč in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the fo ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Career

Filipović graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and received his doctorate in 1960. He was a member and president of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He worked as a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the

. He published 56 books, some of which have been translated into other languages. His book “

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

– A Monograph of His Thought” has been translated into Danish, Swedish, French, Bulgarian, Slovak, Italian and Chinese. He was a founder and leader of the Muslim Bosniak Organization (MBO). At the beginning of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA, est. 1990), the party also included a very influential secular nationalist grouping, led by Filipović and

Adil Zulfikarpašić Adil Zulfikarpašić (23 December 1921 – 21 July 2008) was a Bosniak intellectual and politician who served as vice president of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, under the first president of the Presi ...

. He led a delegation and negotiated both with presidents of Croatia and Slovenia republics in SFRY, who invited Bosnia to join them on the planned path to secession, and later in June 1991, on behalf of SDA president

Alija Izetbegović Alija Izetbegović (; 8 August 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Bosnian politician, Islamic philosophy, Islamic philosopher and author, who in 1992 became the first Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, president of the Presidency ...

, Zulfikarpašić and Filipović met with SDS president

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...

, Nikola Koljević and Momčilo Krajišnik to discuss the future status of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. He then met with representatives of Serbia who invited Bosnia to stay. Both proposals were rejected by Bosniak leaders at the time. He considered especially tragic that proposal to stay in Yugoslavia together with Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro was rejected by

, after negotiations with

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 ...

, a war criminal, who agreed to all of his numerous demands - from Bosniak president and army chief of Yugoslavia to preserving unity of Bosnia within Yugoslavia. During the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

and the

Bosnian genocide The Bosnian genocide () took place during the Bosnian War of 1992–1995 and included both the Srebrenica massacre and the wider crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War, ethnic cleansing campaign perpetrated throughout ar ...

he was the ambassador to the United Kingdom.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipovic, Muhamed 1929 births 2020 deaths People from Banja Luka Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosniak writers Yugoslav dissidents Bosnia and Herzegovina philosophers 20th-century philosophers 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina historians Bosniak nationalists Burials at Bare Cemetery, Sarajevo Members of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina