Former Yugoslav President Raif Dizdarević Dies at 99

Raif Dizdarević, who led Yugoslavia’s collective presidency during the turbulent year before the country’s breakup, has died in Sarajevo at the age of 99.

Dizdarević was born in Fojnica on Dec. 9, 1926. He joined the partisans at 17 in 1943 and took part in the People’s Liberation War. After World War II, he studied at the Higher Diplomatic School in Moscow and began a long diplomatic and political career.

He served in Yugoslav diplomatic missions in Bulgaria, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. From 1978 to 1982, he headed the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He then moved to senior federal positions, serving as president of the Federal Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and federal secretary for foreign affairs for four years.

Dizdarević became president of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in May 1988. He remained in the post until May 1989, as the country faced deep economic and political crisis and increasingly intense national tensions.

After leaving active politics, he continued living in Sarajevo, including during the war years. He later published several books about his political experiences, including “From Tito’s Death to Yugoslavia’s Death,” which examined the political crisis, rising nationalism and the events leading to the state’s collapse. His brothers Nijaz and Faik were also active in politics and diplomacy, while his cousin was the Bosnian-Herzegovinian poet Mak Dizdar.