Petar Gračanin (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Петар Грачанин; 22 June 1923 – 27 June 2004) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician and general in the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

Biography

Petar Gračanin was born on 22 June 1923 in

Jagodina Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in 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" () has been its colloq ...

. In July 1941, he joined 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 ...

. After the formation of the 2nd Proletarian Brigade, in March 1942, at first he was a member and later the commander of a battalion. He was initiated as a

SKOJ The League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia (SSOJ) was the youth movement, member organisation of the People's Front of Yugoslavia, Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ). Membership stood at more than 3.6 million individuals i ...

member in the

League of Communists 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 ...

in 1942. He was promoted to his first military rank in 1943. In 1945, he became Chief of Staff in

OZNA The Department for Protection of the People, commonly known under its Serbo-Croatian acronym as OZNA, was the secret police of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Communist Yugoslavia that existed between 1944 and 1946. Founding The OZNA w ...

for the Morava administrative center. A year later in 1946 he became commander of a tank brigade, Chief of Staff, deputy commander of an armored division and Chief of Staff of School center armored-mechanic units. He graduated from the Higher Military Academy. At the Federal Secretariat of the People's Defense, he was Chief of the Section, and Chief of Staff of the section for Personal authority. In the 7th Army he was Chief of Staff and deputy commander. He was also Chief of Staff of the Command-headquarters academy, and later he was assigned as commander of the 1st Army. He was chosen as a member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (CK SKJ) in 1978 and 1982. He was promoted to the rank of major general in 1970,

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in 1974, and

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

in 1978. He was Chief of the General Staff of Yugoslav People's Army from 5 May 1982 to 1 September 1985. His active military service ended on 31 December 1985. After that he was in high state positions such as: President of Presidency of

SR Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

(1987–89) and then Federal Secretary of the Interior (1989–91). During the

Ten-Day War The Ten-Day War (), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the Slovenian Territorial Defence together wi ...

Gračanin was situated in a JNA air base near

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

. After the JNA forces were ordered by the General Staff to withdraw from Slovenia, Gračanin flew back to Belgrade.Branka Magaš, Ivo Žanić, Noel Malcolm; ''The war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1991-1995''. Taylor & Francis, 2001. (p. 26)

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 ...

promoted him to the rank of reserve

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 ...

of the

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

in 1999. He 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 ...

on 27 June 2004, aged 81, and was buried in the '' Alley of Distinguished Citizens'' at Belgrade's New Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracanin, Petar 1923 births 2004 deaths People from Jagodina Chiefs of staff of the Yugoslav People's Army Yugoslav Partisans members Presidents of Serbia within Yugoslavia Interior ministers of Yugoslavia Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero League of Communists of Serbia politicians Serbian generals Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army Members of the Central Committee of the 11th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 12th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery