Aleksandar Ranković

Aleksandar Ranković Александар Ранковић
Minister of the Internal Affairs of Yugoslavia
In office January 1946 – July 1966
President	Josip Broz Tito
Preceded by	Office established
Chief of OZNA
In office 13 May 1944 – March 1946
Vice President of the People's Assembly of the PR Serbia
In office November 1944 – January 1946
Personal details
Born	(1909-11-28)28 November 1909 Draževac, Obrenovac, Kingdom of Serbia
Died	20 August 1983(1983-08-20) (aged 73) Dubrovnik, Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Resting place	Belgrade, Serbia
Nationality	Serb
Political party	Communist Party of Yugoslavia
Spouse(s)	Anđa Ranković
Occupation	Politician, soldier, worker
Military service
Nickname(s)	Marko, Leka
Allegiance	Yugoslavia
Service/branch	Yugoslav Partisans
Years of service	1941-1945
Rank	Colonel General
Battles/wars	World War II Yugoslav Front
Awards	People's Hero of Yugoslavia Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Order of the People's Liberation

Aleksandar "Leka" Ranković (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Лека Ранковић; 1909, Obrenovac - 1983) was a Yugoslav communist politician of Serbian origin considered to be the third most powerful man in Yugoslavia after Josip Broz Tito and Edvard Kardelj.^[1] Ranković was staunch Serbian nationalist and supporter of Greater Serbia.^[2][3] As chief of UDBA and Minister of Internal Affairs of Yugoslavia, he advocated Serb hegemony in Yugoslavia.^[4]

Early life

Ranković was born in village Draževac near Obrenovac in Kingdom of Serbia. He originates from poor family. During his childhood he lost his father. He attended high school in his hometown. As with many poor children, he went to Belgrade in 1992 to work. Hard living conditions influenced him to join workers' movement. He was also influenced by his colleagues who, at the time when Communist Party was banned, brought communist magazines and literature with them, which were read by Ranković. At 15 he joined the union. In 1927 he met his future wife Anđa, and year later he joined Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Soon he was named Secretary-General of the League of Communists of Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) in Belgrade.

Pre-war activity

In 1928 when he become member of the Communist Party, Ranković was named Secretary of the Regional Committee of the SKOJ of Serbia. The January 6th Dictatorship didn't influence his political activity. As leader of the Regional Committee of SKOJ he published a flyer which was distributed in Belgrade and Zemun. During the time when flyers were being printed, one of his associates was arrested and soon Ranković was discovered by the police. He was captured in Belgrade in an illegal apartment.

Ranković's trial was one of the first trials after the declaration of King Alexander's dictatorship. He was sentenced for 6 years and he spent his punishment in prisons in Sremska Mitrovica and Lepoglava. During his imprisonment he spread communist agenda among younger prisoners. In prison, he organized attacks on the police by political prisoners.

He was released at the beginning of 1935 and after the release he was enlisted to the army. After the military service he worked for the workers' movement in Belgrade. Through the unions he revived activity of the Communist Party. In 1936 he become member of the Regional Committee of Serbia and in 1937 member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In January 1939 he started to act illegally under codename "Marko". In May 1939 Ranković participated in the consultations of communists of Yugoslavia in Drava Banovina in Šmarna Gora, and later he participated on the 5th Conference of KPJ held in Zagreb.

Later career

Ranković was a member of the Politburo from 1940. After he was captured and tortured by the German Gestapo in 1941, he was rescued in a daring raid by Yugoslav Partisans. Ranković served on the Supreme Staff throughout the war. He was named a "People's Hero" for his services during World War II.

After the war, he became minister of the interior and head of the military intelligence OZNA and secret police UDBA. He fell from power in 1966, ostensibly for abusing his authority by bugging the sleeping quarters of President Josip Broz Tito. He was expelled from the Communist Party of Yugoslavia the same year.

His fall from power marked the beginning of the end of a centralized power structure of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia over the country and the social and political separatist and autonomist movements that would culminate in the Croatian Spring and the newly de-centralized Yugoslavia that emerged from the 1971 constitutional reforms and later the 1974 Constitution.^[5]

Ranković's grave in Belgrade

Ranković spent his remaining years in Dubrovnik until his death in 1983. His was buried in Belgrade with thousands present for his funeral. His funeral was a Serbian nationalist demonstration.^[4]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Doder, Duško; Branson, Louise (1999). Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant. Free Press. ISBN 0684843080. 
• Miller, Nick (2007). The Nonconformists: Culture, Politics, and Nationalism in a Serbian Intellectual Circle, 1944-1991. Central European University Press. ISBN 978-9637326936. 

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aleksandar Ranković

• OZNA
• UDBA

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