Muhamed Čengić (1942–26 October 2020) was a

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

politician who served as Vice President of the Government of the

Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Република Босна и Херцеговина, separator=" / ") was a state in Southeastern Europe, existing from 1992 to 1995. It is the direct lega ...

. Čengić was born in

Miljevina Miljevina ( sr-cyrl, Миљевина) is a village in the municipality of Foča, Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in ...

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the south-east on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 1 ...

in a family of seven children. His father was Haki Bey an

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

. After attending a four-grade elementary school in his hometown, in 1953 Čengić continued his education in

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 ...

, where he finished 5th, 6th and 7th grade. He again returned to Foča, where he graduated from the elementary school and enrolled at the local five-grade gymnasium. After finishing three grades, the advanced students were given the opportunity to take exams for the last two grades jointly, thus becoming the first student from Foča to finish two grades in one year, graduating in 1960. After finishing gymnasium, Čengić enrolled at the Faculty of Machinery,

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 ...

. After graduating, he worked for ''Hermes'' and in 1975 started working for the

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

-based Lesina company, where he worked until February 1991. He was one of the founders of the

Party of Democratic Action The Party of Democratic Action (; abbr. SDA) is a Bosniak nationalist, conservative political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. History The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was founded on 26 May 1990 in Sarajevo, as a "party of Muslim cultural ...

(SDA). In February 1992, during a session of the Parliamentary Assembly 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 ...

, Čengić held talks with the Serb representative

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 ...

, discussing the regionalisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina based on economic, national and cultural principles. President of the SDA

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 ...

encouraged him to go public with the proposal at the session, however, the proposal was met with strong opposition among the Bosnian Muslim representatives. In 2010, he joined the

Democratic People's Union The Democratic People's Union (, DNZ) is a political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded in 1993 and first led by Fikret Abdić. In 2014 the Democratic People's Union saw a major split when a large number of its members led by Elvir ...

. Čengić died in Sarajevo and was buried at the Lav cemetery on 28 October 2020.

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cengic, Muhamed 1942 births 2020 deaths People from Foča Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Sarajevo alumni Party of Democratic Action politicians Democratic People's Union politicians Bosniak politicians