Rodoljub Čolaković

Rodoljub "Roćko" Čolaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Родољуб Чолаковић; 7 June 1900 – 30 March 1983)^[1] was a Yugoslav politician and writer who served as the 1st Prime Minister of PR Bosnia and Herzegovina and as the Minister for PR Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Provisional Government of DF Yugoslavia led by Josip Broz Tito.^[2][3] He was a major general in the Yugoslav People's Army and in the National Liberation Army during World War II.

Rodoljub Čolaković
Родољуб Чолаковић
Čolaković in 1966
1st Prime Minister of PR Bosnia and Herzegovina
In office 27 April 1945 – September 1948
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Đuro Pucar
Minister for PR Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Provisional Government of DF Yugoslavia
In office 7 March 1945 – 11 November 1945
Prime Minister	Josip Broz Tito
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	Rodoljub Čolaković (1900-06-07)7 June 1900 Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary
Died	30 March 1983(1983-03-30) (aged 82) Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia
Citizenship	Yugoslav
Political party	SKJ (1919–1983)
Spouse	Milica Zorić-Čolaković
Occupation	Soldier, politician
Awards	10 Yugoslav and 2 international decorations, including Order of the People's Hero Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Order of National Liberation Partisan 1941 Commemorative Medal Order of Polonia Restituta Order of Kutuzov (full list below)
Military service
Allegiance	Yugoslavia (1941–1945)
Branch/service	Yugoslav People's Army National Liberation Army
Years of service	1941–1945
Rank	Major general
Battles/wars	Spanish Civil War World War II

Biography

Born in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary on 7 June 1900, Čolaković joined the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in April 1919 as a student. Later, he joined Crvena Pravda ("Red Justice"), a left-wing terrorist organisation which assassinated Yugoslav interior minister Milorad Drašković on 21 July 1921. For his role in the assassination, Čolaković was sentenced to 12 years in prison.^[2] While serving his sentence, he made friends with many notable Yugoslav communists, including Moša Pijade with whom he translated Das Kapital and other seminal Marxist texts into Serbo-Croatian.

After his release, Čolaković emigrated to the Soviet Union^[2] and in 1937 travelled to Spain to take part in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side.^[3] He later came back to Yugoslavia, participating in World War II. Between 1946 and 1955, Čolaković published five volumes of Zapisa iz oslobodilačkog rata ("Memoir of the liberation war") from his war diaries.^[1][3] In addition to writing newspaper articles, propaganda leaflets and books on World War II, he also published two autobiographies Kuća oplakana ("House of Mourning") and Kazivanje o jednom pokolenju ("Stories of One Generation).^[1] Čolaković died on 30 March 1983 at the age of 82 in Belgrade.^{[4][ISBN missing]}

Awards and decorations

Domestic awards

After World War II, Čolaković was awarded many high profile Yugoslav orders, the biggest one of them being the Order of the People's Hero,^[5] which he was awarded on 27 November 1953.

1st Row	Order of the People's Hero
2nd Row	Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour	Order of National Liberation	Order of the Yugoslav Flag
3rd Row	Order of Merits for the People	Order of Brotherhood and Unity	—
4th Row	Order of Bravery	Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941	—
Note: All Yugoslav decorations are now defunct.

Foreign awards

Čolaković was also awarded two foreign orders; the Polish Order of Polonia Restituta and the Soviet Order of Kutuzov.

Award or decoration		Country	Place	Note
	Order of Polonia Restituta	Poland	Warsaw	One of Poland's highest orders.
	Order of Kutuzov	Soviet Union	Moscow	Soviet military order.

References

1. Miloš Stojsavljević (28 August 2020). "Ko je bio Rodoljub Čolaković Roćko?" [Who was Rodoljub Colaković Roćko?]. bijeljina.org. Bijeljina Danas.
2. "Na današnji dan rođen je Rodoljub Čolaković" [Rodoljub Colaković was born on this day]. masina.rs. Mašina. 7 June 2019.
3. Carmichael, Cathie (2015). A Concise History of Bosnia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-1-10701-615-6.
4. Smoljan, Ivo (1984). Tito and the emigrants. Croatian Heritage Foundation. p. 323. OCLC 477112519.
5. Draško Ređep (1971). Živan Milisavac (ed.). Jugoslovenski književni leksikon [Yugoslav Literary Lexicon] (in Serbo-Croatian). Novi Sad (SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia): Matica srpska. p. 71.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Office established	Prime Minister of PR Bosnia and Herzegovina 1945–1948	Succeeded by Đuro Pucar