Svetozar Vukmanović - Tempo ( sh-Cyrl, Светозар Вукмановић - Темпо; 3 August 1912 – 6 December 2000) was a leading
Montenegrin 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 ...
and member of the Central Committee of 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 ...
. 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 ...
he served on the
Supreme Staff, went on missions to
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, and
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
, and became
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...
's personal representative in the
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...
. He held high positions in the postwar government, and was proclaimed a
People's Hero of Yugoslavia.
Early life
Born to Nikola Vukmanović and Marija Pejović in the village of
Podgor in
Crmnica
Crmnica ( Montenegrin Cyrillic and sr-Cyrl, Црмница, ) is one of the local communities (''mjesne zajednice'') of the municipality of Bar and a historical region in southern Montenegro. It was one of the four sub-regions of Old Montenegro ...
, young Svetozar grew up with three siblings: older brothers Đuro and Luka and sister Milica. In search of work, their father Nikola went over to
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
where he made a living by doing manual labour in mines, but eventually returned to Montenegro. After
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he was an opponent of the matter of the unification of Serbia and Montenegro and held pro-
Zelenaši views following the
Podgorica Assembly
The Great People's Assembly of the Serb People in Montenegro (), commonly known as the Podgorica Assembly (, ), was an ''ad hoc'' popular assembly convened in November 1918, after the end of World War I in the Kingdom of Montenegro. The commit ...
. For this he was arrested by the royal Yugoslav regime, spending two years in prison during the early 1920s.
Svetozar completed primary school in his village with excellent grades, before going to
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 ...
, like his brothers previously, for gymnasium studies. He did this against the wishes of his father who wanted at least one male to stay with the family at the village. His first exposure to communist ideas occurred in 1927 when his oldest brother Đuro (who studied philosophy in Paris where he became a member of the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
(PCF) and even spent time in prison in Italy over communist activity) came back to the village in poor health and soon died. Impressed with what he heard, young Svetozar became a communist and along with his first cousin Branko Vukmanović started reading Marxist and Soviet literature.
After graduating from the Gymnasium in 1931, he moved to Belgrade with his first cousin to study at the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...
's
Law School
A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...
.
Student days
Although a communist for a few years already, Svetozar was not a member of the
Communist Party (KPJ) in 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 ...
, mostly because its organization in Montenegro was still weak with sporadic activity. Immediately upon arriving to Belgrade, however, he took an active part in the revolutionary student movement that was very strong at the university. Right away, he participated in the large demonstrations during November 1931 for which he got kicked out of the dormitory the following year. He was thus forced to pay rent in various private apartments and for a time even lived with another communist activist Đuro Strugar, who was his friend from Cetinje gymnasium. In 1933, Svetozar formally joined the Party along with his gymnasium friends Novica Ulićević, Dimitrije Živanović, Ratomir Popović, Branko Mašanović, and Đuro Strugar.
As a student in 1933, he organized strikes and demonstrations. He graduated from the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...
's
Law School
A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...
in 1935.
He was nicknamed ''Tempo'' because of his urging people to hurry.
After publishing his memoirs in the 1980s, Tempo came back into the public spotlight by providing vocals for the rock band
Bijelo dugme
() is a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Rock music, rock band, formed in Sarajevo, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1974. is widely considered to have been the most popular and the best-selling band ever to exist in the former S ...
on their 1986 album ''
Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo''.
Tempo died in late 2000 in his seacoast villa in Reževići. Before his death, he explicitly requested to be buried next to his brother Luka in their home village Podgora.
Execution of his brother Luka
Svetozar Vukmanović's own brother Luka Vukmanović was a
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
priest in Montenegro. He was executed by
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 ...
in May 1945, after being captured and tortured along with
Metropolitan Joanikije. In fact Svetozar, as a loyal communist, did nothing to save the life of his brother.
The details of his capture, torture, and subsequent execution remain somewhat unclear, along with the role of his brother Tempo in the said events.
In mid-1945 priest Luka Vukmanović was escaping Montenegro along with clergy of the Serbian Orthodox Church's Metropolitanate of Montenegro-Littoral in a mass exodus towards
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
and
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. Also in the mass convoy were various members of the
Podgorica Assembly
The Great People's Assembly of the Serb People in Montenegro (), commonly known as the Podgorica Assembly (, ), was an ''ad hoc'' popular assembly convened in November 1918, after the end of World War I in the Kingdom of Montenegro. The commit ...
who voted to unite Montenegro with Serbia in 1918 and who now feared reprisals in increasingly chaotic situation in Montenegro, as well as royal government ministers and many other royalists and
chetnik
The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
s who bitterly opposed communism and many of whom had collaborated with the occupying forces of
the Axis. In particular, the most prominent member of the clergy in the exodus, Metropolitan Joanikije, had collaborated with the occupying Italian and German forces and supported the activities of the Serbian
Chetnik
The Chetniks,, ; formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland; and informally colloquially the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationalist m ...
s. They were all on the run since November 1944. Luka's 14-year-old son Čedomir was also within the convoy.
The convoy was intercepted by troops commanded by communist general from Montenegro
Peko Dapčević
Peko Dapčević (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Пеко Дапчевић; 25 June 1913 – 10 February 1999) was a Yugoslav communist who fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, joined the Partisan uprising in Montenegro, and became com ...
(incidentally, also from a priest family as his father Jovan Dapčević was a
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions.
Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
). According to some accounts, this happened near
Zidani Most in Slovenia, and according to others it took place in Austria. Wherever it was, most of the people in the convoy were executed on the spot and buried in various unmarked graves.
This is when Tempo was reportedly informed about Luka's capture and asked to decide on what should happen to his brother. His reported answer was: "The same as what happens to others".
Luka's young son Čedomir, who managed to survive the bloody ordeal was later effectively raised by his uncle Tempo who took care of his nephew's living arrangements and education 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 ...
.
Before the mass executions began, Metropolitan Joanikije, as the most prominent member of the clergy was separated from the group and transported to
Aranđelovac
Aranđelovac ( sr-cyr, Аранђеловац, ) is a town and a municipality located in the Šumadija District of central Serbia. , the municipality has a population of 41,297 inhabitants, while the town has 22,881 inhabitants.
It is situated ben ...
vicinity in Serbia where he was imprisoned,