Tatjana "Tanja" Ljujić-Mijatović ( sr-cyr, Татјана "Тања" Љујић-Мијатовић; born 11 May 1941) is a Bosnian former politician. By vocation, she is a horticulturist and landscape designer. During the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

, Ljujić-Mijatović served as the Serb member of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Early life and education

Ljujić-Mijatović was born on 11 May 1941 into a

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

family 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 ...

. Her father was a high-ranking commander in the

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 ...

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

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 ...

. She attended elementary school, high school, and university in Sarajevo. Having graduated from the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

as an agriculture engineer in 1964, Ljujić-Mijatović obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

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 ...

in 1982, followed by a doctoral degree in Sarajevo in 1986. She worked as a landscape designer in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

from 1969 until 1971 and in Sarajevo from 1971 to 1979, and became a university professor in

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

and Sarajevo in 1982.

Political career

Ljujić-Mijatović became politically active during Bosnia and Herzegovina's socialist era. She became a delegate in the People's Assembly in 1991. When the

broke out in 1992, Ljujić-Mijatović rejected Serb nationalist politics, stayed in

during the siege of the city by the

Bosnian Serb army The Army of Republika Srpska (; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska, the self-proclaimed Serb secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herz ...

, and supported the preservation of a

multiethnic A multinational state or a multinational union is a sovereign entity that comprises two or more nations or states. This contrasts with a nation state, where a single nation accounts for the bulk of the population. Depending on the definition of ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina. When Nenad Kecmanović resigned his post as Serb member of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 1992, Ljujić-Mijatović was the Serb delegate with most votes in the 1990 general election who was still residing in the government-controlled territory.

Biljana Plavšić Biljana Plavšić ( sr-Cyrl, Биљана Плавшић; born 7 July 1930) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb former politician, university professor and scientist who served as President of Republika Srpska and was later convict ...

and Nikola Koljević had also resigned, and two delegates ahead of Ljujić-Mijatović left the country. She duly took her seat in the Presidency in December 1992, as the only woman among the seven members. In 1993, Ljujić-Mijatović gave an interview in

about the life in besieged Sarajevo, which prompted

Alois Mock Alois Mock (; 10 June 1934 – 1 June 2017) was an Austrian politician and member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He was Vice Chancellor of Austria from 1987 to 1989. As foreign minister, he helped take Austria into the European Union. L ...

, the Austrian Foreign Minister, to request that she be named Bosnian ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. During the Dayton negotiations, she resolutely opposed the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following the war, Ljujić-Mijatović remained a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. From 1998 until 2000, she was the deputy mayor of Sarajevo, and afterward served in the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

. She is a member of the Serb Civic Council.

Personal life

Ljujić-Mijatović is divorced. She has two daughters, including

Dunja Mijatović Dunja Mijatović ( sr-cyr, Дуња Мијатовић; is a Bosnian human rights expert and activist. An expert on media law and media regulation, she served from 2010 to 2017 as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), and as ...

(born in 1964).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ljujic-Mijatovic, Tatjana 1941 births Living people Politicians from Sarajevo Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Sarajevo alumni Academic staff of the University of Sarajevo University of Belgrade alumni Bosnia and Herzegovina women in politics Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Politicians of the Bosnian War Members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Permanent representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations 20th-century women politicians Women horticulturists and gardeners Landscape and garden designers Female heads of state