President of the League of Communists of Croatia
Serbo-Croatian: Predsjednik Saveza komunista Hrvatske
Emblems of the LCY
Longest serving
Vladimir Bakarić
5 October 1944 – 28 March 1969
TypeParty leader
Member ofLCY Presidency and SRC Presidency
AppointerCentral Committee
Term lengthTwo years, non-renewable
(1982–1991)
Constituting instrumentLCY Charter & LCC Charter
Formation1 August 1937
First holderĐuro Špoljarić
Final holderIvica Račan
Abolished3 November 1990

The president was the leader of the League of Communists of Croatia (LCC), the ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Croatia (SRC) in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Party rules stipulated that the LCC Central Committee elected the president. Moreover, the Central Committee was empowered to remove the president. The president served ex officio as a member of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) and of the SRC Presidency. To be eligible to serve, the president had to be a member of the Presidency of the LCC Central Committee. The 9th LCC Congress instituted a two-year term limits for officeholders.

The office traces its lineage back to the office of "Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Croatia," established after the founding of the LCY in 1919. This body had no distinct rights and was under the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav Central Committee. On 1 August 1937, the LCY convened the founding congress of the Communist Party of Croatia. On 2 August, the Central Committee of the 1st Congress elected Đuro Špoljarić as "Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia". The LCY 6th Congress on 2–7 November 1952, renamed the party League of Communists, and the Croatian republican branch followed suit and changed its name to League of Communists of Croatia. On 4 October 1966, the 5th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the LCY 8th Congress abolished the office of General Secretary at the national level and replaced with the office of President. The LCC Central Committee convened a meeting on 26 October 1966 that abolished the office of secretary and established the "President of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia". The reforms passed by the LCY Central Committee plenum strengthened the powers of the republican branches and gave more powers to the Croatian party leader. The 9th LCC Congress introduced another set of reforms on 16 May 1982, which abolished the existing office and replaced it with the "President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia". This office was retained until 3 November 1990, when the party changed its name to the Party of Democratic Changes.

Office history

Title Established Abolished Established by
Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for Croatia
Serbo-Croatian: Sekretar Pokrajinskog komiteta Komunističke partije Jugoslavije za Hrvatsku 		23 April 1919 2 August 1937 1st Congress of the Socialist Labour Party of Yugoslavia (Communists)
Secretary of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia
Serbo-Croatian: Sekretar Centralnog komiteta Saveza komunista Hrvatske 		2 August 1937 26 October 1966 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Croatia
President of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia
Serbo-Croatian: Predsjednik komiteta Saveza komunista Hrvatske 		26 October 1966 16 May 1982 6th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the 5th Congress
President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia
Serbo-Croatian: Predsjednik Predsjedništva Centralnog komiteta Saveza komunista Hrvatske 		16 May 1982 24 February 1991 9th Congress of the League of Communists of Croatia

Officeholders

Presidents of the League of Communists of Croatia
No. Portrait Name Took office Left office Tenure Term of office Birth PM Death Nationality Ref.
1 Đuro Špoljarić 2 August 1937 January 1939 1 year, 152 days 1st
(1943–1948) 		1906 1929 1991 Croat [1]
2 Rade Končar December 1939 25 August 1940 268 days 1st
(1943–1948) 		1911 1934 1942 Serb [2]
3 Vladimir Popović 25 August 1940 December 1942 2 years, 98 days 1st
(1943–1948) 		1914 1932 1972 Montenegrin [3]
4 Andrija Hebrang December 1942 5 October 1944 1 year, 309 days 1st
(1943–1948) 		1899 1919 1949 Croat [4]
5 Vladimir Bakarić 5 October 1944 28 March 1969 24 years, 174 days 1st–6th
(1948–1974) 		1912 1933 1983 Croat [5]
6 Savka Dabčević-Kučar 28 March 1969 13 December 1971 2 years, 260 days 6th–7th
(1968–1978) 		1923 1943 2009 Croat [6]
7 Milka Planinc 14 December 1971 16 May 1982 10 years, 153 days 7th–8th
(1978–1982) 		1924 1944 2010 Croat [7]
8 Jure Bilić 16 May 1982 23 May 1983 1 year, 7 days 9th
(1982–1986) 		1922 1941 2006 Croat [8]
9 Josip Vrhovec 23 May 1983 14 May 1984 357 days 9th
(1982–1986) 		1926 1944 2006 Croat [9]
10 Mika Špiljak 14 May 1984 18 May 1986 2 years, 4 days 9th
(1982–1986) 		1916 1938 2007 Croat [10]
11 Stanko Stojčević 18 May 1986 13 December 1989 3 years, 209 days 10th
(1986–1989) 		1929 1944 2009 Serb [11]
12 Ivica Račan 13 December 1989 3 November 1990 325 days 11th
(1989–1990) 		1944 1961 2007 Croat [12]

References

  1. ^ "Špoljarić, Đuro" [Špoljarić, Đuro]. Croatian Encyclopedia (in Croatian). Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  2. ^ Zalar 1961, p. 365.
  3. ^ "Popović, Vladimir" [Popović, Vladimir]. Croatian Encyclopedia (in Croatian). Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  4. ^ Stallaerts 2010, pp. 152–153.
  5. ^ Lewytzkyj & Stroynowski 1978, p. 39.
  6. ^ "Kraljice, predsjednice, umjetnice, znanstvenice: 15 najutjecajnijih i najpoznatijih žena kroz hrvatsku povijest" [Queens, presidents, artists, scientists: 15 most influential and famous women throughout Croatian history] (in Croatian). RTL. 7 March 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  7. ^ Lewytzkyj & Stroynowski 1978, p. 481; Stroynowski 1989c, p. 929; Djokić 2023, p. 450.
  8. ^ Lewytzkyj & Stroynowski 1978, p. 67; Stroynowski 1989a, pp. 102–103.
  9. ^ Lewytzkyj & Stroynowski 1978, p. 670; Stroynowski 1989c, p. 1272.
  10. ^ Lewytzkyj & Stroynowski 1978, p. 580; Stroynowski 1989c, p. 1104.
  11. ^ Stroynowski 1989c, p. 1130.
  12. ^ "Racan, Ivica" [Racan, Ivica]. Croatian Encyclopedia (in Croatian). Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.

Bibliography

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