Irfan Ljubijankić

Irfan Ljubijankić (26 November 1952 – 28 May 1995) was a Bosnian facial surgeon, classical music composer, politician and diplomat. He served as foreign minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993 until he was killed in action in 1995 during the Bosnian War.

Biography

Ljubijankić was born in Bihać, Yugoslavia, the town in which he lived for most of his life. He graduated from the University of Belgrade's School of Medicine and became a medical doctor specializing in ear, nose and throat treatments. In 1990 as Bosnia was preparing to secede from Yugoslavia, he was elected to the Bosnian parliament and became a leading member of the Bosniak-dominated Party of Democratic Action. He temporarily left politics in 1992 after the beginning of the civil war between the Bosniaks and the Bosnian Serbs, in order to serve as a medical doctor in Bihać.

Ljubijankić remained an active medical doctor until October 1993 when he became foreign minister. He traveled widely to help gain international support for the country. Shortly before his death, he represented Bosnia-Herzegovina at the 50th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II in London on 1 May 1995.

Death

He was killed on 28 May 1995 when his helicopter was shot down by a missile over Cetingrad, Croatia, a town near the Bosnian border which was being held by Krajina Serbs at that time.^[1] He was flying from Bihać to Zagreb, Croatia's capital, on government business, and the six other people on the helicopter also died. Ljubijankić was married and had two children.

After Ljubijankić's death, one of his friends, singer Yusuf Islam appeared at a 1997 benefit concert in Sarajevo and recorded a benefit album named after a song written by Ljubijankić, I Have No Cannons That Roar.^[2]

References