| Order of the People's Hero | |
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Order of the People's Hero medal and ribbon bar |
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| Awarded by Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro |
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| Type | Medal |
| Awarded for | Distinguishing oneself by extraordinary heroic deeds |
| Status | Incepted |
| Statistics | |
| First awarded | 1942 |
| Last awarded | 1993 |
| Total awarded | Around 1,400 |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Order of Freedom |
| Next (lower) | Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour (1948-1992)[1] Order of the Yugoslav Flag (1998-2006)[2] |
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The Order of the People's Hero (Serbo-Croatian: Orden narodnog heroja, Cyrillic script: Oрден народног хероја; Slovene: Red narodnega heroja, Macedonian: Oрден на народен херој) was a Yugoslav gallantry medal, the second highest military award, and third overall Yugoslav decoration.[1] It was awarded to individuals, military units, political and other organisations who distinguished themselves by extraordinary heroic deeds during war and in peacetime. The recipients were thereafter known as People's Heroes of Yugoslavia. The vast majority was awarded to partisans for actions during the Second World War. A total of 1322 awards were awarded in Yugoslavia, and 22 were awarded to the foreigners.[3]
After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia, the Order of the People's Hero was awarded in Serbia and Montenegro.
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The bulletin of the Supreme commaned of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia no. 12–13 (December 1941 and January 1942) announced the establishment of the title of "People's Hero" for heroic and self-sacrifing participants of the People's Liberation War. 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 People's 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 1,400 times. Marshal Josip Broz Tito was awarded the Order three times: 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 people's heroes. Although the benefits have since been downscaled, post-Yugoslav countries still provide certain benefits to people's heroes. Many schools and streets in post-war Yugoslavia were named after people's heroes, and many of the names remain, to varying degrees in different successor countries.
Several cities in Yugoslavia were awarded the order, and proclaimed Hero Cities: Beograd, Cetinje, Drvar, Ljubljana, Novi Sad, Prilep, Pristina and Zagreb[3].
After the dissolution of SFR Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later renamed Serbia and Montenegro) continued to use some of the decorations of former Yugoslavia, among them Order of the People's Hero[4]. In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Order of the People's Hero was the fourth highest order after the Order of Yugoslavia, Order of the Yugoslav Star and the Order of Freedom[2].
Notable recipients of the order include:
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A total of 1,307 awards were awarded in Yugoslavia by 1957.[3]
1,220 were male and 87 were female.
658 of them were also members before World War II. The majority, 1,261, 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:
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