Ankica Tuđman
Ankica Tuđman | |
|---|---|
President of the Presidency of SR Croatia | |
| In role 30 May 1990 – 25 July 1990 | |
| President | Franjo Tuđman |
| Prime Minister | Stjepan Mesić |
| Preceded by | Milena Latin |
| Succeeded by | Herself (as Spouse of the President of the Presidency of the Republic of Croatia) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ankica Žumbar 24 July 1926 Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
| Died | 6 October 2022 (aged 96) Zagreb, Croatia |
| Nationality | Croatian |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, including Miroslav |
Ankica Tuđman (
She was the mother of the now-deceased
Early years
Ankica Žumbar was born in
At age 18, she met her future husband, Franjo Tuđman, in Čazma where he was in charge of a department of the 10th Zagreb Corps of the Yugoslav Partisans. In January 1945, she transferred from Čazma to the Supreme command in Belgrade, returning to Zagreb following its liberation by Partisan forces in May 1945. Thereafter, she moved to Belgrade with Tuđman, gaining employment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of SFR Yugoslavia and marrying Tuđman on 25 May 1945. They had two sons and one daughter, namely Miroslav (1946–2021), Stjepan (born in 1948), and Nevenka (born in 1951).[1]
In 1954, she passed the high school leaving exam and enrolled at the University of Belgrade to study English. However, she abandoned her college studies in her sophomore year, choosing to take a course in English at the Yugoslav foreign ministry. In 1960, her husband was promoted to the rank of major general, but decided to leave the military in 1961, with the whole family moving back to Zagreb. Once there Franjo Tuđman established the Institute for the History of the Labour Movement in Croatia (Croatian: Institut za historiju radničkog pokreta Hrvatske) (now called the Croatian Institute of History (Croatian: Hrvatski institut za povijest)) and its first director. However, he was removed from that position in 1967 and forced to abandon his membership in the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. In 1972 and 1981, Franjo Tuđman was sentenced to prison.[1]
First Lady of Croatia
In the
On 7 October 1991, her husband escaped an
Later years
Following the death of her husband on December 10, 1999, she and her family were often publicly criticized, especially by Tuđman's successor in the post of president, Stjepan Mesić. Ankica, a member of the HDZ since its foundation in June 1989, was also expelled from the party's membership under Tuđman's more liberal and pro-West orientated successor as party chairman, Ivo Sanader, who served two terms as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 until his resignation in 2009. However, she returned to the party under Tomislav Karamarko in 2012, receiving the membership card number 002. In 2006, she published a book titled My Life with Francek (a diminutive of the name Franjo).[1]
Personal life and death
Tuđman was married to Franjo Tuđman from 1945 until his death in the post of President of Croatia on 10 December 1999. Together they had three children: Miroslav, Stjepan, and Nevenka. Ankica had seven grandchildren: Nina and Ivana are Miroslav's children, Siniša and Dejan are Nevenka's children, and Anamarija, Nera, and Anton Franjo are Stjepan's children.[1]
Tuđman died on 6 October 2022, at the age of 96.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Ankica Tuđman". Večernji.hr (in Croatian). Večernji list. 1 December 2016.
- ^ Salvia, Vedran (18 January 2022). "Ankica Lepej, žena koja je ostala bez svega jer je razotkrila tajni račun Tuđmanovih" [Ankica Lepej, a woman who lost everything because she exposed the Tuđmans' secret account]. Index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Ankica Tuđman, wife of the first Croatian president passes away". croatiaweek.com. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
External links
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