Vladimir Rolović (21 May 1916 – 15 April 1971) was a Yugoslav politician, diplomat, and a former high officer 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 ...

(UDBA). Holder of the "

Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 The Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 (Macedonian language, Macedonian, Slovene language, Slovene and sh-Latn-Cyrl, Partizanska spomenica 1941., Партизанска споменица 1941., separator=" / ") is a commemorative Soci ...

" and as a former commander of the infamous Goli Otok prison, he was assassinated in 1971 while serving as the Yugoslav ambassador to Sweden by Anđelko Brajković and Miro Barešić, members of the Croatian National Resistance neo- Ustaša terrorist organization.

Biography

Rolović was born on 21 May 1916 in the village of Brčeli within

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 ...

region near Bar. Born during

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 ...

in a poor family, he spent his childhood in his home village, where he attended elementary school. Despite difficult conditions, he continued his education in Bar,

Peć Peja or Peć, ), is the fifth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova (region), Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the ...

and

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 ...

, and enrolled in 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 ...

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

.Biography at Znaci.net
/ref> In 1935, the 19-year-old became a member of

SKOJ The League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia (SSOJ) was the youth movement, member organisation of the People's Front of Yugoslavia, Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ). Membership stood at more than 3.6 million individuals i ...

, the youth wing of the then-banned

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 ...

(KPJ). Only several months later, in early 1936, he became a full-fledged member of the KPJ. Due to his involvement with the organization, he was arrested twice by the authorities 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 ...

– first in 1935 in Cetinje and later in 1938 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 ...

. Rolović continued his climb up the party ladder and in 1940, he was elected a member of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Montenegro. After the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

and subsequent occupation of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and its allies in April 1941, Rolović was actively involved in preparations for an armed uprising in Montenegro. In December 1941, he participated in the attack on

Pljevlja Pljevlja (, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Ćehotina, Ćehotina river. The town lies at an altitude of . In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial ...

. He served as political commissioner of the First Montenegrin partisan battalion. He was also a director of the Political department of the First Dalmatian and Fifteenth Majevica Brigades and Seventeenth East-Bosnian Division of the Yugoslav Army. He served as a member of the

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

government, as assistant of federal

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, ...

, member of the city Committee of the Communist Party of Belgrade and ambassador of

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 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and finally in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He was a commander of the Goli Otok prison used to incarcerate political prisoners. In

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on 7 April 1971, he was attacked by a terrorist group of Croatian National Resistance members in a attack on the Yugoslav embassy, and was mortally wounded. Eight days later, on 15 April, he succumbed to his injuries. The assassins Miro Barešić and Anđelko Brajović were caught and convicted in

. He was awarded the

People's Hero of Yugoslavia The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...

gallantry medal on 9 April 1971, two days after getting wounded in Stockholm.

References

Literature

*''National heroes of Yugoslavia'', Mladost, Belgrade, 1975. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolovic, Vladimir 1916 births 1971 deaths People from Bar, Montenegro Yugoslav Partisans members Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Sweden Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Japan Ambassadors of Yugoslavia to Norway University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Order of the Polar Star Assassinated ambassadors Terrorism deaths in Sweden Montenegrin communists Yugoslav secret police agents