Raif Dizdarević, the 10th President of the Presidency of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), has passed away in Sarajevo at the age of 100.
“Elchi” reports that Dizdarević, born on December 9, 1926, in Fojnica, joined the National Liberation Struggle in 1943 and became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1945.
He began his career in state security agencies, working in the People’s Defense and State Security departments. In 1951, he transitioned to the diplomatic service of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia.
During his long diplomatic career, Dizdarević served in embassies in Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia, and was appointed Deputy Federal Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1972. Later, he served as President of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1978 to 1982, and as President of the SFRY Assembly from 1982 to 1984.
Serving as Federal Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1984 to 1987, Dizdarević subsequently became a member of the SFRY Presidency and served as its president from May 15, 1988, to May 15, 1989.
After retiring from active political life, Dizdarević lived in Sarajevo and authored several works, including the memoirs “From Tito’s Death to the Death of Yugoslavia” and “Times to Remember.”
It should be noted that he was the first Bosniak Muslim president of Yugoslavia.