Konstantin "Koča" Popović (Serbian Cyrillic:Константин "Коча" Поповић; 14 March 1908 – 20 October 1992) was aSerbian andYugoslav politician andcommunist volunteer in theSpanish Civil War, 1937–1939 and Divisional Commander of theFirst Proletarian Division of theYugoslav Partisans. He is on occasion referred to as "the man who saved the Yugoslav Partisans", because it was he who anticipated the weakest point in the Axis lines on theZelengora–Kalinovik axis, and devised the plan for breaking through it during theBattle of Sutjeska, thus savingJosip Broz Tito, his headquarters and the rest of the resistance movement. After the war, he served as theChief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav People's Army, before moving to the position ofMinister of Foreign Affairs and spent the final years of his political career asVice President of Yugoslavia.
Despite being a member of theCommunist Party of Yugoslavia, Popović was a supporter of free-market reforms[1] and was also a member of a group of Serbian liberals, a prominent political movement in the 1970s, which also includedMarko Nikezić andLatinka Perović. He retired in 1972, amidst pressure against his group of liberals. He spent the rest of his life inDubrovnik and was very outspoken against theYugoslav Wars and the regimes ofFranjo Tuđman andSlobodan Milošević.
In his youth, Popović was one of the founding members of the SerbianSurrealist movement. He co-wrote a book withMarko Ristić. Also, Popović was among the founders of the Yugoslav Sports Association Partizan andFK Partizan, the football section of the Yugoslav Sports Association Partizan.
Popović came from a prosperous Belgrade family and spent theFirst World War inSwitzerland.[2][1] He was also one of the thirteen signatories of the SerbianSurrealist manifesto in 1930.
In 1929, Popović moved toParis to studyLaw andPhilosophy. Here he mixed with theLeft Bank world of poets, writers, artists and intellectuals.[3] He became an activeSurrealist, active in both the French and Serbian Surrealist groups.[2]In 1931Nacrt za jednu fenomenologiju iracionalnog (Outline for a Phenomenology of the Irrational) was published which he had co-written withMarko Ristić.[2]
Popović then became involved with the then illegalYugoslav Communist Party. In Paris there was a center run byComintern and headed byJosip Broz Tito, which was used to feed volunteers from the Balkans to theRepublicans in theSpanish Civil War. Popović was drafted through this center along with aselect group of Party members. Popović fought with Spanish Republican forces and not theInternational Brigades, holding the rank of artillery captain. At the close of the Spanish Civil War Popović escaped through France and made his way back to Yugoslavia.[3]
In 1940, as a reserve officer in theRoyal Yugoslav Army, Popović was mobilized and told by his Colonel to watch out for subversive activities within the regiment.
After the surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army to theGerman Army in April 1941, Popović organized theKosmaj detachment during the uprising in Serbia. On the formation of theFirst Proletarian Brigade, Popović became its commander, and subsequently commanded the First Proletarian Division.[3]
During his time leading the Partisans he encounteredWilliam Deakin, leader of the British military mission to Tito's headquarters, who wrote of Popović:
At the head of the First Proletarian Division was General Koča Popović. He had been present at our first encounter with Tito and his Staff on the morning of our arrival, but his identity was not disclosed. Taut and deliberately controlled by a sensitive and disciplined mind and power of will, Popovic was an intellectual soldier of outstanding talents, which were perhaps alien to his inner nature. [...] He was bilingual in caustic polished French, and his mental defences were impenetrable. His sarcasm was rapier-like, respectful of counter-thrusts, but he was never off his guard. [...] Popovic was a lone wolf and a solitary man, with rare unguarded moments. He had a touch of military genius and hatred of war. He was wary of friendship and defended with a devilish skill total integrity of mind and heart. [...] I was frequently in his company and grew to accept his contrived and polished sallies. Daring with cold deliberation and secret by nature, he was the idol of his troops, but few men knew him.[3]
Alongside dozens of other WW2 and Spanish Civil War veterans, Popović was among the founding fathers of thePartizan Belgrade football club in October 1945.[4]
After the establishment of a communist regime inYugoslavia in 1945, he served as theChief of the Yugoslavian General Staff from 1945 until 1953. In this function he also conducted negotiations with the representatives of Western powers associated with the modernisation of the JNA during the conflict with theSoviet Union (i.e.,Informbiro).
Consequently, Popović became theMinister of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia in 1953 and held this office until 1965. As Foreign Minister, he was the head of the Yugoslav delegation to theUN General Assembly sessions on several occasions.
From 1965 until 1972, Popović acted as a member of theFederal Executive Council and theVice President of Yugoslavia from 1966 until 1967. In 1985, he andPeko Dapčević were considered for promotion in rankGeneral of the Army, but they both rejected the proposition.
Popović died inBelgrade in 1992 at the age of 84.
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Vice President of Yugoslavia 1966–1967 | Succeeded by Office dissolved |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 1953–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded byas Chief of the General Staff of thePeople's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia | Chief of the General Staff of theYugoslav Army (Since 1951 Yugoslav People's Army) 15 September 1945 – 27 January 1953 | Succeeded by |
Partisans | |
|---|---|
Chetniks | |
Germany | |
Italy | |
Albania.svg) | |
Independent State of Croatia | |
German-occupied territory of Serbia | |
Italian governorate of Montenegro | |
Province of Ljubljana | |
