Branko Mamula

Branko Mamula
Бранко Мамула
4th Federal Secretary of People's Defence of Yugoslavia
In office
5 May 1982 – 15 May 1988
Prime MinisterVeselin Đuranović
Milka Planinc
Branko Mikulić
Preceded byNikola Ljubičić
Succeeded byVeljko Kadijević
9th Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army
In office
10 July 1979 – 5 May 1982
MinisterNikola Ljubičić
Preceded byStane Potočar
Succeeded byPetar Gračanin
Personal details
Born(1921-05-30)30 May 1921
Slavsko Polje, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (now Croatia)
Died19 October 2021(2021-10-19) (aged 100)
Tivat, Montenegro
NationalityYugoslav
Political partyLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia (1942–1990)
League of Communists – Movement for Yugoslavia (1990–1992)
AwardsOrder of the Hero of Socialist Labour
Military service
AllegianceSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Branch/serviceYugoslav People's Army
Years of service1941–1988
Rank Admiral of the fleet
Commands
Battles/warsWorld War II

Branko "Đuro" Mamula (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранко "Ђурo" Мамула; 30 May 1921 – 19 October 2021) was a Serbian politician and Yugoslav officer who participated in World War II in Yugoslavia. He was later the Minister of Defence of Yugoslavia from 1982 to 1988.

Biography

Mamula was born in Kordun in May 1921 to an ethnic Serb family. He joined League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia in 1940 and at the start of World War II in Yugoslavia in 1941 he joined the Yugoslav Partisans. In 1942, he joined Communist Party of Yugoslavia. During the war, he was put in charge of numerous units, moving through the ranks of the Partisans. Before he became the Defence Minister, he held the rank of admiral as Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army from 1979 to 1982. After becoming Defence Minister in 1983, he was promoted to Admiral of the fleet. He lived in Opatija from 1985 until 1991.[1][2]

The entrance to Branko Mamula's former villa in Opatija, Croatia, with signpost in English: "Mamula is Gone".

Mamula remarked on the Yugoslav People's Army's (JNA) failure to respond to Slobodan Milošević's rise in Serbia, in his 2000 book Slučaj Jugoslavija (transl. Case Yugoslavia):

The military leadership of the JNA bears responsibility for not carrying out a coup d'état. Instead, it allowed the nationalist leaders and the separatist behaviour of the two western republics to push the JNA into the hands of Greater Serbian nationalism, which unscrupulously utilised the Army in the inter-ethnic war, and eventually rejected it.[3]

From 2007, he lived in Tivat, Montenegro. Mamula turned 100 in May 2021.[4] He died on 19 October 2021, from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montenegro.[5]

Honours

National Honours

Foreign Honours

References

  1. ^ Profile, slobodnadalmacija.hr; accessed 19 September 2016.(in Croatian)
  2. ^ Berislav Jelinić; Eduard Šostarić; Maroje Mihovilović (27 February 2006). "1789 agenata KOS-a u RH" [1789 Yugoslav secret service agents in Croatia]. Nacional (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  3. ^ Ivanji, Ivan (30 June 2016). "Moja velika iluzija". Vreme (in Serbo-Croatian). No. 1330. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Stoti rođendan Branka Mamule: Jedan od posljednjih svjedoka stvaranja i uništenja Titove Jugoslavije". vijesti.me. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Preminuo admiral flote Branko Mamula". Vijesti (in Serbian). Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
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Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army
10 July 1979 – 5 May 1982 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Federal Secretary of People's Defence of Yugoslavia
5 May 1982 – 15 May 1988 		Succeeded by


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