Petar Živković ( sr-cyr, Петар Живковић; 1 January 1879 – 3 February 1947) was a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n military officer and political figure 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 ...

. He was

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 ...

from 7 January 1929 until 4 April 1932.

Life

Petar Živković was born in Negotin,

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

(present-day Bor District,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

) in 1879. He finished secondary school in Zajecar and the Military Academy in Belgrade. A soldier at the Serbian court, he helped overthrow the Obrenović dynasty with the assassination of King Alexander I of Serbia (11 June), which was orchestrated by Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević, the founder and leading member of the secret nationalist organization Black Hand. Živković later founded the secret organization White Hand in 1912, which served to counter the power of the Black Hand. In 1921, King Alexander I of Yugoslavia appointed Živković commander of the Royal Guard, but he was briefly demoted due to accusations by a young guardsman that he tried to seduce him. In 1929 he was appointed prime minister as part of the

6 January Dictatorship The 6 January Dictatorship ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Шестојануарска диктатура, Šestojanuarska diktatura; ; ) was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia after 1929) by ...

. General Živković was

Bogoljub Jevtić Bogoljub Jevtić (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Богољуб Јевтић; 24 December 1886 – 7 June 1960) was a Serbian diplomat and politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was plenipotentiary minister of Yugoslavia in Al ...

's brother-in-law, the closest adviser to the head of State. Živković held the office as a member of the Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy (JRSD), which became the only legal party in Yugoslavia, following electoral reforms. As a prime minister he did not enjoy high regard by either the military or among other politicians not only due to his widely rumoured homosexuality. He resigned as prime minister in 1932, and shortly thereafter founded the Yugoslav National Party (JNS), becoming its president in 1936. Following Alexander I

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

in 1934, His cousin Pavle Karađorđević took office as regent for the 11-year-old Petar II. Upon Pavle's 1941 signing of the Tripartite Pact, Živković left Yugoslavia ahead of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

invasion. He became part of the Yugoslav government in exile. In 1946 he was tried

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia at the Trial of Mihailović et al. and sentenced to death by the communist authorities. He was forced into exile, leaving for Italy and eventually settling in France, dying in

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 ...

in February 1947, aged 68.

In popular culture

Živković is portrayed by Nebojša Dugalić in the Serbian television series '' Balkan Shadows''.

References

External links

Biography
at VOA 1879 births 1947 deaths People from Negotin Prime ministers of Yugoslavia Serbian politicians Serbian soldiers Marshals of the Court (Serbia, Yugoslavia) Yugoslav National Party politicians People sentenced to death in absentia Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery {{Yugoslavia-bio-stub