Raif Dizdarević (born 9 December 1926) is a Bosnian politician who served as

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 ...

's first

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 ...

president of the Presidency from 1988 to 1989. He participated in the armed resistance as a

Yugoslav Partisan 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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Dizdarević also served as President of the Presidency of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina and as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

. He is brother of

Zija Dizdarević Zija Dizdarević (18 February 1916 – 1942) was a Bosnian prose writer. Brother of Raif Dizdarević. Biography He was born in Vitina, Ljubuški municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary to Bosnian parents Šefkija Dizdarevi ...

Early life

Dizdarević was born into a

Muslim family in 1926, but became and remained an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

after entering school.

Political career

After the war, as a member of the Communist Party, Dizdarević was elevated into high political functions. From 1945, he was a member of the

State Security Administration The State Security Service, also known by its original name as the Directorate for State Security, was the secret police organization of Communist Yugoslavia. It was at all times best known by the acronym UDBA, which is derived from the organiz ...

. As a diplomat, he served in embassies in Bulgaria (1951–1954), the Soviet Union (1956–1959), and Czechoslovakia (1963–1967). Dizdarević was an assistant Federal Secretary of Foreign Affairs, with Miloš Minić being the Minister. From April 1978 until April 1982, he was the President of the Presidency of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, after which he served as President of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia. From 15 May 1984 until 30 December 1987, Dizdarević was the

. On 15 May 1988, he became

President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia The office of the president of the Presidency of Yugoslavia, Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, , existed from the Death and state funeral of Josip Broz Tito, death of the President of the Republic Josip Broz Tito on 4 M ...

, following the resignation of Hamdija Pozderac. During Dizdarević's time as head of state, Yugoslavia had a foreign debt of over US$21 billion and an annual inflation rate of 217 percent. In March 1989, Dizdarević had to cancel a foreign trip to Brazil, Uruguay and Senegal amid unrest in the Albanian-majority province of

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

.''Yugoslav crisis hits president's foreign tour''. The Glasgow Herald – 11 March 1989.

Later life

Dizdarević, who tried to keep the Yugoslav federation together, lost his political influence with the start of the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

. Later he lived 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 ...

and published his memoirs. He published a memoir book ''Od smrti Tita do smrti Jugoslavije'' ("From the death of Tito to the death of Yugoslavia", ) and a book of memories on events and personalities ''Vrijeme koje se pamti' ("Times to be remembered", ). His son Predrag lives in the United States, while his daughter Jasminka lives 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 ...

, Serbia. His nephew was journalist, diplomat, and activist

Srđan Dizdarević Srđan Dizdarević (29 September 1952 – 16 February 2016) was a Bosnian journalist, diplomat, and activist. Born into a prominent Bosniak political family of diplomats, Dizdarević graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of ...

, who died in 2016.

References

External links

Short biographyHronika naslućene smrti
review of Dizdarević's book of memoirs

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160224191958/http://www.radiosarajevo.ba/novost/66235/raif-dizdarevic-bio-sam-i-ostao-jugonostalgicar Radiosarajevo.ba: Raif Dizdarević: Bio sam i ostao jugonostalgičar (26. X 2011)].
Mojusk.ba: 'Put u raspad' – Knjiga Raifa Dizdarevića daje novo svjetlo o raspadu Jugoslavije (24. II 2012)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dizdarevic, Raif 1926 births Living people People from Fojnica Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina atheists Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims Bosnia and Herzegovina people of World War II League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Members of the Central Committee of the 12th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 13th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Chairmen of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign ministers of Yugoslavia Government ministers of Yugoslavia Presidents of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia