The same week of the departure of our friend and mentor, Arcadi Oliveres, another great peacebuilder has left us: Jovan Divjak, the former general who defied the orders of the Serbian army and defended Sarajevo during the Balkan War.
It was precisely for his courage during the war and for his contribution, later on, to peacebuilding in the country, that Divjak was conferred the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2013, which he received at a ceremony in the Parliament of Catalonia the following year.
The ICIP team and Governing Board regret this loss and express our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
From general to peacebuilder
Jovan Divjak was born in Belgrade in 1937 to parents originally from the Bosanska Krajina region of Bosnia. He studied at the Military Academy in Belgrade, the École d’État Major in Compiègne (France), the Cadet Academy in Belgrade and the School of War and Defense Planning, also in Belgrade. He was Commander of the Yugoslav People’s Army, first in the Mostar sector (1984-1989) and later in Sarajevo (1989-1991).
In the spring of 1992, at the outset of the siege of Sarajevo that would last until 1996, Divjak received orders from Belgrade to leave the city. He refused and left the Yugoslav People’s Army to serve as Commander of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in an act of disobedience and commitment to those who were under attack. From this new position, Divjak supervised and coordinated the defense of Sarajevo – a symbol of multiethnicity – against the attack of the Serbian troops, led by General Radovan Karadzic. Because of this courageous attitude, he was known as “the Serb who defended Sarajevo” (although he defined himself as a Bosnian born in Belgrade) and is considered a national hero in Bosnia.
Protection of the victims
In 1994, after retiring from the military, forced into the reserve by the Bosnian government, Divjak participated in the foundation of OGBH (“Education builds Bosnia and Herzegovina”), of which he was the executive director. The association works to ensure the education of all children victims of the Bosnian War, regardless of their ethnicity, providing them with scholarships and material support.
Convinced of the importance of preserving coexistence in a multiethnic society, Jovan Divjak wanted to turn problems that, at first sight, seemed to be only ideological and political, into educational issues. That is why he was involved in the drive for a unified, but not uniform, education in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From then on, Divjak made Sarajevo his home and fought for the reconstruction of the city and to create a future for children, whether Croats, Muslims or Serbs. For his work in the association, he received numerous local and international awards, including the Sixth of April Award of Sarajevo, the French Legion of Honor and the Humanist of the Year Award from the International League of Humanists.
