Jovan Divjak
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Jovan Divjak (Born March 11, 1937 in Belgrade, Serbia) was a general in the Bosnian army during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. He was the highest ranking ethnic Serb in the army and one of its most educated and experienced officers.
[edit] Early life and military career
He was born in Belgrade to Serbian parents. His father was stationed in the Yugoslav army in Serbia. Originally his family comes from Bosnia and he currently resides in Sarajevo.
From 1956 to 1959 he attended the Military Academy in Belgrade. In 1964 and 1965 the l'Ecole d'Etat Major in Paris.From 1969 to 1971 the Cadets Academy in Belgrade and from 1979 to 1981 the War and Defense Planning School in Belgrade.
After several posts in the JNA, Divjak was Territorial Defense Chief in command of the sector Mostar from 1984 to 1989 and same for the sector Sarajevo from 1989 to 1991. In 1991/2 Jovan Divjak was court-marshalled by the JNA for issuing 120 pieces of light armour and 20,000 bullets to the Kiseljak Territorial Defense, and sentenced to 9 months imprisonment.
On April 8th, 1992, Divjak became Deputy Commander of BiH's Territorial Defense forces and a month later oversaw the defence of Sarajevo from a major JNA attack. Between 1993-1997 General Divjak was Deputy Commander of the BiH Army's Headquarters, charged with the cooperation with civilian institutions and organisations (administration, economy, health, education).
He is self-declared Bosnian.
[edit] His life today
Today, Divjak is the executive director of the association OGBH, "OBRAZOVANJE GRADI BIH" (Education builds Bosnia and Herzegovina). He was one of the founder of OGBH in 1994. The association’s goals are to help children who’s family were victims from the war, by providing them money, for instance ; but also to help the increase of eduction in Bosnia, even in the poorest parts of the country, by providing them financial and material support.
Since 2004, he has been a member of the Steering Board of the NGO Reference Group, Sarajevo.
Since 1998, he has been a member of the Association of Independent Intellectuals "Krug 99", Sarajevo
Before 1998, he has been an active member of others ossaciations, such as sports associations, or Faculty of physical education in Sarajevo, and has been a very active member of various NGO in Bosnia. He tries to help his country as much as he can, and hopes that the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina is clearer than its past.
He has also written two books:
- In French "Sarajevo, mon amour". Entretiens avec Florence La Bruyere; published by Buchet-Chastel in 2004 with a foreword by Bernard-Henri Lévy.
- In Serbo-Croatian, "Ratovi u Hrvatskoj i Bosni i Hercegovini 1991-1995", an offprint on the aggression against Bosnia-Herzegovina. "Dani" and Jesenski and Tura in 1999.
He appeared in the BBC documentary "The Death of Yugoslavia" in 1995.
In 2006 he has been nominated for the title of Universal Peace Ambassador by the The Worldwide Council of the Universal Ambassador Peace Circle in Geneva, and awarded.
