Peko Dapčević (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Пеко Дапчевић; 25 June 1913 – 10 February 1999) was a Yugoslav

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 ...

who fought as a 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 ...

, joined the Partisan uprising in Montenegro, and became commander of the Yugoslav 1st Proletarian Corps, 1st and 4th Armies. Dapčević led the Partisan troops that, along with Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

under General Vladimir Zhdanov, liberated

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 ...

on October 20, 1944. He was the first person to be proclaimed as honorary citizen of Belgrade. He was also among the founders of

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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

section of the Partizan Sports Society. In 1953, Dapčević was named Chief of the Yugoslav General Staff, but was demoted as a result of being indirectly involved in the Milovan Đilas troubles with the party.

Biography

Born June 25, 1913, in the area of

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

known as Ljubotinj, his father Jovan was an Orthodox deacon. He had one sister named Danica who was a public school teacher, and brothers Milutin (an officer in the Royal Yugoslav Army), Dragutin (Major of Yugoslav Armies) and Vlado who was a revolutionary, dissident and anti-revisionist. Dapčević died February 10, 1999, at the age of 85 in

. He was buried at Belgrade New Cemetery.

References

1913 births 1999 deaths Politicians from Cetinje Military personnel from Cetinje People of the Kingdom of Montenegro Montenegrin atheists League of Communists of Montenegro 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 11th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia Members of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army Chiefs of staff of the Yugoslav People's Army Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni International Brigades personnel Yugoslav people of the Spanish Civil War Yugoslav Partisans members Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Recipients of the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of National Liberation KK Partizan presidents Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery {{Montenegro-politician-stub