Belgrade Coat of Arms

Honorary citizen of Belgrade is a title awarded by the leadership of Belgrade on behalf of the city.

Requirements

The title can be awarded to both a citizen of Serbia and any other state, as a politician or statesman, as well as a representative of a non-governmental organization or an artist. A candidate for honorary citizenship of Belgrade must have a contribution to the development of science, art, humanitarian activities, etc., which has helped the development and image of Belgrade, the development of democracy in Serbia and the world. The decision to award the title is made by the City Assembly (Parliament). Candidates are nominated by the City Council or at least 10 councilors.[1]

A person who has received the title of honorary citizen of Belgrade is presented with an official letter on official paper at an official meeting of the Assembly. A citizen of Serbia receives it on City Day, and a representative of another country receives it during their visit to Belgrade.[1]

History

Elizabeth II next to Josip Broz Tito during her visit to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 17 October 1972

The first to receive this title was General Peko Dapčević on 19 October 1945, who led the liberation of Belgrade in the autumn of 1944. On Yugoslav Youth Day in 1947, the title were given to the head of the Yugoslav Communist Party, Josip Broz Tito, Fyodor Tolbukhin, marshal of the Soviet Union, and Vladimir Zhdanov, general of the Soviet army.[2][1]

On 19 July 1954 (the year when the title was officially established), for the first time, the leader of a foreign state, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, became an honorary citizen of Belgrade. Of the foreign leaders after him, the title was awarded to Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Norodom Sihanouk, Leonid Brezhnev and others. Despite the warm relations of Josip Broz Tito with a number of leaders of Western European countries, only Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, became an honorary citizen of Belgrade during his life (and currently the only woman to be assigned this title). Till 1985, honorary citizens of Belgrade were high foreign officials, who were visiting SFR Yugoslavia. After 1985, the title was not awarded for more than 21 years. The title was reintroduced in 2006. Until 2006, an honorary Belgrade citizen could only become someone who was a senior foreign politician, statesman or military leader. Nelson Mandela received it in 2007.[1][2]

At the beginning of the 21st century, Bill Gates and Michael Schumacher were nominated as candidates for honorary citizens of Belgrade . Serbian historian Aleksandar Životić explained this by the breakdown of the socialist bloc and globalization, in an era in which society chooses new heroes.[1]

In 2015, Nikita Mikhalkov and Peter Handke are the first artists to become honorary citizens of the Serbian capital.[1]

List of honorary citizens

The list includes people who have been awarded the title of honorary citizen of Belgrade.

No. Name Portrait Date Notes Country Ref(s)
1 Petar Dapčević
(1913—1999) 		20 October 1945 Lieutenant general of JNA and Order of the People's Hero  Yugoslavia [1][2]
2 Josip Broz Tito
(1892—1980) 		25 May 1947 President of Yugoslavia, Marshal of Yugoslavia and President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia  Yugoslavia [1][2]
3 Fyodor Tolbukhin
(1894—1949) 		Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria and Order of the People's Hero  Soviet Union [1][2]
4 Vladimir Zhdanov
(1902—1964) 		Colonel general of tank troops in the Soviet Armed Forces  Soviet Union [1][2]
5 Haile Selassie I
(1892—1975) 		22 July 1954 Emperor of Ethiopia  Ethiopian Empire [1][2]
6 Jawaharlal Nehru
(1889—1964) 		24 June 1955 Prime Minister of India  India [1][2]
7 Gamal Abdel Nasser
(1918—1970) 		23 July 1956 President of Egypt  Egypt [1][2]
8 Norodom Sihanouk
(1922—2012) 		20 September 1959 King of Cambodia  Cambodia [1][2]
9 Leonid Brezhnev
(1906—1982) 		20 September 1962 Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)  Soviet Union [1][2]
10 Ahmed Ben Bella
(1918—2012) 		6 March 1964 President of Algeria  Algeria [1][2]
11 Habib Bourguiba
(1903—2000) 		31 March 1965 President of the Republic of Tunisia  Tunisia [1][2]
12 Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904—1966) 		18 July 1965 Prime Minister of India  India [1][2]
13 Edvard Kardelj
(1910—1979) 		24 January 1970 federal political leader of SFR Yugoslavia and Order of the People's Hero  Yugoslavia [1][2]
14 Kenneth Kaunda
(1924—2021) 		6 May 1970 President of Zambia  Zambia [1][2]
15 Elizabeth II
(1952—2022) 		17 October 1972 Queen of the United Kingdom  United Kingdom [3][4]
16 Edward Gierek
(1913—2001) 		8 May 1973 President of the Polish United Workers' Party  Polish People's Republic [1][2]
17 Nicolae Ceaușescu
(1918—1989) 		19 September 1976 President of Romania и General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party  Socialist Republic of Romania [1][2]
18 Hua Guofeng
(1921—2008) 		22 August 1978 Premier of the People's Republic of China and Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party  China [1][2]
19 Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
(1926—2006) 		17 September 1981 Emir and thirteenth Sheikh of Kuwait  Kuwait [1][2]
20 François Mitterrand
(1916—1996) 		16 December 1983 President of France  France [1][2]
21 Kim Il Sung
(1912—1994) 		19 June 1984 president of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea  North Korea [1][2]
22 Li Xiannian
(1909—1992) 		4 September 1984 President of the People's Republic of China  China [1][2]
23 Miguel de la Madrid
(1934—2012) 		26 January 1985 President of Mexico  Mexico [1][2]
24 Julius Nyerere
(1922—1999) 		15 March 1985 President of Tanzania  Tanzania [1][2]
25 Nelson Mandela
(1918—2013) 		15 May 2007 President of South Africa  South Africa [1][2]
26 Miguel Ángel Moratinos
(1951—) 		6 October 2009 Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs  Spain [1][2]
27 Tadashi Nagai
(1943—) 		7 June 2010 Japanese Ambassador to Serbia  Japan [1][2][5]
28 Li Keqiang
(1955—) 		18 December 2014 Prime Minister of China  China [1][6]
29 Nikita Mikhalkov
(1945—) 		17 April 2015 Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union  Russia [1][7][8]
30 Peter Handke
(1942—) 		21 May 2015 Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, screenwriter, Nobel Prize winner  Austria [1][7][8]
31 Thorvald Stoltenberg
(1931—2018) 		1 October 2015 Norwegian politician  Norway [1][7][8]
32 Arne Sannes Bjørnstad
(1965—) 		6 December 2016 Norwegian ambassador for Serbia  Norway [1][9][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak S., Sanja (19 July 2021). "Ko su sve počasni građani Beograda?". beograduzivo.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Svi počasni građani Beograda - političari". politika.rs (in Serbian). 19 December 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Poseta Beogradu i govor kraljice Elizabete II iz 1972. godine". danas.rs (in Serbian). 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Kraljičin govor prilikom proglašenja za počasnu građanku Beograda". rs.n1info.com (in Serbian). 9 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Gradonačelnik Mali sa počasnim građaninom Beograda Tadašijem Nagaijem" (in Serbian). beograd.rs. 14 March 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Kineski premijer Li Kečiang počasni građanin Beograda" (in Serbian). beograd.rs. 28 November 2014. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "Handke, Mihalkov i Stoltenberg počasni građani prestonice" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  8. ^ a b c "Handke, Mihalkov i Stoltenberg počasni građani Beograda" (in Serbian). rts.rs. 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  9. ^ "BEOGRAD SUTRA DOBIJA 31. POČASNOG GRAĐANINA Da li znate o kome je reč?" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 5 December 2016. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Ambasador Norveške Arne Sanes Bjernstag počasni građanin Beograda" (in Serbian). beograd.rs. 1 November 2018. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
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