Order of the National Hero

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Order of National Hero of Yugoslavia, 1st Class
Order of National Hero of Yugoslavia, 1st Class

The Order of the National Hero (Serbo-Croatian: орден народног хероја/orden narodnog heroja, Slovenian: red narodnega heroja, Macedonian: орден на народен херој) was a Yugoslavian gallantry medal, the second highest military award in the Socialist Yugoslavia, It was awarded to individuals, military units, political and other organisations who distinguished themselves by extraordinary heroic deeds during war and in peacetime. The vast majority was awarded to partisans for actions during the Second World War. A total of 1322 awards were awarded in Yugoslavia, and 17 were awarded to the foreigners.

The bulletin of the supreme staff of the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia no. 12-13 (december 1941 and january 1942) announced the establishment of the title of "National Hero" for heroic and self-sacrifing participants of the National Liberation Struggle. The first person to be awarded the title was Petar Leković. On 15 August 1943, the title was formalized as an order together with Order of the National Liberation, Order of Bravery, Order of the Partisan Star, Order of Brotherhood and Unity and the Medal for Bravery.

The Order consists of an oval gold badge showing a soldier with rifle and banner superimposed upon a rayed star surrounded by a wreath of laurel. The badge is suspended from a red ribbon, with a narrow white stripe towards each edge. The design for this and the other Orders were undertaken by the painter Đorđe Andrejević Kun and the sculptor Antun Augustinčić. From its inception until around 1993, the Order had been awarded nearly 1400 times. Marshal Tito was awarded the Order in 1944., 1972. and 1977.

The holders of the order were entitled to certain benefits, like free fares on public transport, and pensions for the surviving family members of deceased national heroes. Although the benefits have since been downscaled, post-Yugoslav countries still provide certain benefits to national heroes. Many schools and streets in post-war Yugoslavia were named after national heroes, and many of the names remain, to varying degrees in different successor countries.

[edit] Notable recipients

Notable recipients of the order include:

[edit] Statistics

A total of 1307 awards were awarded in Yugoslavia by 1957. 1220 were male and 87 were female.

By place of birth (not ethnicity):

  • Croatia - 282
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina - 284
  • Serbia - 256
  • Montenegro - 247
  • Slovenia - 156
  • Macedonia - 63
  • abroad - 17

By social status:

  • 506 workers
  • 207 peasants
  • 404 intellectuals
  • 78 former members of the Yugoslav royal army
  • 73 clerks
  • 39 other occupations
  • 5 unknown

Almost all recipients were members of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, while 658 of them were also members before World War II. The majority, 1261, joined partisans in 1941; there were 41 heroes from 1942 and five from 1943.

Of the National Heroes who died in the war, there were:

  • 624 killed in combat
  • 104 shot themselves
  • 55 other suicides
  • 30 died from fatal injuries
  • 20 killed in prison
  • 13 hanged
  • 12 massacred
  • 4 died of disease
  • 3 buried alive
  • 3 strangled
  • 1 impaled
  • 1 burned on a skewer
  • 5 died in accidents
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../o/r/d/Order_of_the_National_Hero_3764.html"