Dr. Džafer-beg Kulenović (1891 - 1956) was the Vice President of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) between 1941 and 1945, being one of the highest ranking Muslims in the NDH. He was also President of Yugoslav Moslem Organization since 1939.
Kulenović was born in Rajinovci on February 17, 1891.
He served as president of the Yugoslav Moslem Organization, the largest Bosniak political party at the time, following the death of Dr. Mehmed Spaho in 1939. He was a minister in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia's government before the Second World War.
He became the vice-president of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) on November 7, 1941 and held the position to war's end. He had actually succeeded his older brother Osman Kulenović in this position.
After the fall of the NDH, Kulenović immigrated to Syria. He lived there until his death on October 3, 1956 in Damascus. While in Syria, the Croats in Argentina published a collection of his journalistic writings. In 1950, the Bosniak Community in Chicago published a speech he wrote for the Muslim Congress following World War II in Lahore, Pakistan. This twenty-two page pamphlet entitled "A Message of Croat Moslems to Their Religious Brethren in the World" detailed Serb aggression against Croatians of Islamic faith and promoted the idea of Croat unity.
Only a few months before his death, the Croatian Liberation Movement was formed, with Dr. Kulenović being one of the founders and signatories.
His son Nahid Kulenović continued working with this Movement, but was assassinated by the Yugoslavia secret police, UDBA, in Munich.
His grandson Džafer Kulenović is now one of the main Bosniak leaders in North America, having served as the Vice President of the Congress of North American Bosniaks (2002-2009) the largest Bosniak organization in the USA, President of the Islamic Cultural Center in Northbrook, Illinois (2004-2009) (the oldest Bosniak mosque in North America), and as a member of the Governing Board of the Democratic Action Party (SDA) in Sarajevo (2001-2009). He currently serves as President and CEO of Crescent Bancshares, a new bank venture being developed in the Chicago area catering to the Southeastern European and South Asian communities with a specialty in Islamic Banking.