Vladimir Popović Lukin (27 January 1914 – 1 April 1972) was a Yugoslav diplomat, communist politician and army general. He was a close associate of

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 ...

. He was, during his career, a delegate to the UN, close associate of Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslavia's envoy (ambassador) to the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, US, China, and Vietnam, member of the federal government of Yugoslavia, and chair of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia, and secretary to the presidency until his death in 1972.

Biography

Popović was born in 1914 in Gornji Brčeli, near

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

Kingdom of Montenegro The Kingdom of Montenegro was a monarchy in southeastern Europe, present-day Montenegro, during the tumultuous period of time on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World War I. Officially it was a constitutional monarchy, but absolu ...

. In 1932, he joined the

Yugoslav Communist Party 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 a ...

. From 1934 to 1937, he attended the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

School in Leningrad under the nickname of "Španac" (Spaniard) where he learned English, German, and Spanish language and diplomat protocols. In 1937 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 ...

School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

That same year, he represented his fellow students at the

World Youth Congress ''For the movement in the 1930s, the First World Youth Congress in 1936, and the Second World Youth Congress in 1938, see World Youth Congress Movement.'' The World Youth Congress is an international event hosted in a multitude of countries sinc ...

in Paris where he met Josip Broz Tito, then Secretary of the

. He then joined the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, reaching the rank of Captain in the

Spanish Republican The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissolv ...

Army. After the

Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

in 1941 by the Axis powers, he became a leader of 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 ...

forces in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. In 1944, he advanced to the rank of major general, commanding the

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

Third Army Corps in Bosnia. After the end of the war, Tito sent him to Bulgaria as the Yugoslav military and political representative. In 1945, he was named Yugoslavia's first Communist Ambassador to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1946, he was a member of the Yugoslav delegation 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 ...

and part of the Yugoslav Delegation at the Paris Peace conference in Versailles (21 delegations from countries in the Second World War with Germany). From 1946 to 1947 he was in Moscow, where he helped negotiate economic-cooperation agreements with the Soviet Union. In 1948, the

Cominform The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (), commonly known as Cominform (), was a co-ordination body of Marxist–Leninist communist parties in Europe which existed from 1947 to 1956. Formed in the wake of the dissolution ...

(an organization 1947–56 established by the Communist parties of nine European countries for mutual advice and coordinated activity) denounced the Yugoslav Communist Party and the Soviet Union imposed an economic blockade on Yugoslavia. He would then become First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and was elected to the Central Committee of the Yugoslav Communist party. In 1949 he served as chief of the Yugoslav Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly where he sought the aid of Western powers for his country. In 1950, he was named as Ambassador to the United States and pledged a policy of peaceful cooperation. He was influential in obtaining $38 million in food and supplies for his drought–stricken country. He helped obtain $50 million in economic aid from the United States, Britain and France, which was secured after the release of archbishop

Aloysius Stepinac Aloysius Viktor Stepinac (, 8 May 1898 – 10 February 1960) was a Croat prelate of the Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1953, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his death, a period which included the fascist rule of th ...

. In 1954 he was Chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Federal People's Assembly of Yugoslavia. From 1955 to 1958, he served as ambassador to China, USA and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. From 1958 to 1972, he held several different positions. He was a member of the presidium of the Central Committee in charge of Foreign Policy, a member of the Federal Government, the Chairman of the Committee for foreign economic relations, head of goodwill trade missions to Latin America, on missions to members of The Non-Aligned Movement NAM and Secretary to the Presidency until his death 1972 in London. He married Vjera Radimir in 1946.

References

External links

NY Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Vladimir 1914 births 1972 deaths People from Bar, Montenegro People of the Kingdom of Montenegro Yugoslav politicians Yugoslav communists Yugoslav diplomats Yugoslav Partisans members Yugoslav military personnel of World War II Yugoslavia in World War II Yugoslav people of the Spanish Civil War Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army University of Belgrade Faculty of Medicine alumni Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Members of the Presidency of the 8th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Candidates of the Central Committee of the 4th Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 6th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 7th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 8th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to the United States Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to the Soviet Union