Serbian academic, journalist and politician
Mirjana Markovi?
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/07/Mirjana_Markovi%C4%87.webp/220px-Mirjana_Markovi%C4%87.webp.png) Markovi? in 1989
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In office
8 May 1989 ? 28 September 1990
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In office
11 January 1991 ? 23 July 1997
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In office
23 July 1997 ? 7 October 2000
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Preceded by
| Ljubica Brkovi? Lili?
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Succeeded by
| Zorica Radovi?
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Born
| (
1942-07-10
)
10 July 1942
Po?arevac
,
German-occupied Serbia
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Died
| 14 April 2019
(2019-04-14)
(aged 76)
Moscow
, Russia
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Resting place
| Po?arevac, Serbia
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Political party
| SKJ
(until 1990)
SK?PJ
(1990?1994)
JUL
(1994?2003)
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Spouse
|
(
m.
1965; died 2006)
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Children
| 2, including
Marko
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Parents
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Relatives
| Marko Milo?evi?
(grandson)
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Occupation
| Ph.D in Sociology
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Employer
| University of Belgrade
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Criminal charge
| Abuse of Office by Incitement
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Criminal status
| Fugitive; Died during trial in absentia
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Mirjana
"
Mira
"
Markovi?
(
Serbian Cyrillic
:
Мир?ана "Мира" Маркови?
,
pronounced
[m?rjana
m?ːra
m?ːrkovit?]
; 10 July 1942 ? 14 April 2019) was a
Serbian
politician, academic and the wife of
Yugoslav
and
Serbian president
Slobodan Milo?evi?
.
[1]
She was the leader of the
far-left
Yugoslav United Left
(JUL) which governed in coalition with Milo?evi?'s
Socialist Party of Serbia
in the aftermath of the
Bosnian War
. She was reported to have huge influence over her husband and was increasingly seen as the
power behind the throne
.
[1]
[2]
Among her opponents, she was known as The Red Witch and the
Lady Macbeth
of Belgrade.
[3]
Markovi? was accused of
abuse of office
, inciting several associates to allocate a state-owned apartment for her grandson’s nanny in September 2000. She was indicted in December 2002 and fled
Belgrade
on 23 February 2003. In June 2018, she was declared guilty
in absentia
by a court in Belgrade, and sentenced to a year's imprisonment,
[4]
but the verdict was overturned on appeal in March 2019.
[5]
Markovi? lived under political asylum in
Moscow
,
Russia
, from February 2003 until her death in 2019.
Life
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Markovi? was the daughter of
Moma Markovi?
and
Vera Mileti?
, who were both fighting for the
Yugoslav Partisans
at the time of her birth. Her aunt was Davorjanka Paunovi?, private secretary and alleged mistress of
Josip Broz Tito
. Her mother Vera was captured by
German
troops and allegedly released sensitive information, under torture.
[6]
She was then executed in the
Banjica concentration camp
by the
Nazis
.
Markovi? met
Slobodan Milo?evi?
when they were in high school together. They married in 1965.
[3]
The couple had two children, son
Marko
and daughter Marija, who founded
TV Ko?ava
in 1998 and was its owner until the
overthrow of Milo?evi?
on 5 October 2000.
Education and career
[
edit
]
Markovi? held a Ph.D. in sociology and taught the subject at the
University of Belgrade
. Later, she became an honorary member of the
Russian Academy of Sciences
.
She was considered to be the only person her husband trusted, her influence being considered a source for the increase in Milo?evi? strong
anti-western
rhetoric and actions. "She invented him", Milo?evi? biographer Slavoljub đuki? told the
Ottawa Citizen
in 1998. "There has never been such a powerful woman in the history of Serbia as Mirjana Markovi?. And she has been fatal for Serbia."
[7]
As the leader of her own political party,
Yugoslav United Left
she held some political influence.
[2]
Markovi? was largely responsible for erecting the
Eternal Flame
monument, shortly before the overthrow of Milo?evi? in 2000.
[8]
She was believed, though not formally accused, of being involved in the murders of her husband's political rivals including the Serbian politician
Ivan Stamboli?
, Milo?evi?'s former mentor, in 2000, and the journalist
Slavko ?uruvija
the previous year.
[7]
[3]
"Milo?evi? has never had any political ideas of his own", Stamboli? said in 2000. "They've all been hers."
[7]
She wrote a political column in the weekly Serbian magazine
Duga
during the sequence of
wars in the 1990s
. Observers read it for any coded messages. In the
old Yugoslavia
, she once wrote "
Serbs
,
Muslims
and
Croats
were able to live side by side", though her husband and his associates presided over
its destruction
.
[9]
Markovi? was the author of many books, which were translated and sold in Canada, Russia, China, and India.
[10]
Political views
[
edit
]
Markovi?'s political views tended to be
hard-line
Communist
. Although she often claimed that she agreed with her husband on everything, Milo?evi? seems to have had fewer authoritarian tendencies than Markovi?.
Markovi? reportedly had little respect for the
Bosnian Serb
leaders.
Vojislav ?e?elj
appeared before a court on 18 June 1994 to face charges of breaking microphone cables in
Parliament
. He read a statement, saying, "Mr. Judge, all I can say in my defense is that Milo?evi? is Serbia's biggest criminal." Markovi? replied by calling ?e?elj a "primitive
Turk
who is afraid to fight like a man, and instead sits around insulting other people's wives."
Radovan Karad?i?
was apparently unable to telephone Milo?evi? because Markovi? would not tolerate his calls.
Commenting on her husband's arrest to face
war crimes
charges, Markovi? stated:
Neither
East
nor
West
has betrayed him. The only person that can betray him is me. But people have short memories and you have to remind everyone of everything. In the early 1990s my husband was accused by many circles, in Yugoslavia and abroad, that he had wanted to keep Yugoslavia alive, even though it was falling apart and the
Croats
and the
Slovenes wanted to leave
. That was his big sin. Crazy Serbs and Crazy Slobo, they said, they want Yugoslavia. Now, in
the Hague
, they say he broke up Yugoslavia. Let them make their minds up.
Asylum in Russia and death
[
edit
]
Pursued by legal authorities, Markovi? settled in Russia in 2003.
[3]
The authorities of Serbia issued an arrest warrant for her on fraud charges which was circulated via
Interpol
, but the Russian authorities refused to arrest her.
In March 2012, a collection of her columns for
Pravda
from 2007 to 2008, as well as for online portal
Sloboda
from 2010 to 2011, titled
Destierrada e imperdida
was published in Belgrade by
Tre?i milenijum
, a publishing house owned by Had?i Dragan Anti?.
[14]
[15]
After the
2012 elections
, a government minister,
Milutin Mrkonji?
of the
Socialist Party
(which he co-founded with Milo?evi?) said that Markovi? and her son were welcome to return.
[16]
In June 2018, Markovi? was found guilty
in absentia
of real estate fraud charges, and sentenced to a year in prison.
[4]
The Serbian Appeals Court in March 2019 rejected her conviction, finding it unsound, and ordered a new trial.
[5]
Markovi? underwent several surgeries, and died in
Moscow
on 14 April 2019.
[9]
The New York Times
reported her death was caused by complications due to
pneumonia
.
[17]
Her body was cremated and interred in
Po?arevac
alongside her husband on 20 April 2019.
[18]
Books
[
edit
]
- Night and Day: A Diary
- Dragi?a Nikoli?, December 1995 - 978-8682005223
- Night & Day: A Diary
- Quarry Press, May 1997 - 978-1550821680
- Answer
- Quarry Press, March 1997 - 978-1550821697
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Prentice, Eve-Ann (15 April 2019).
"Mira Markovi? obituary"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Mira Markovic: Power behind Milosevic"
. BBC. 13 January 2001
. Retrieved
27 March
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Roberts, Sam.
"Mirjana Markovic, the 'Lady Macbeth' of War-Torn Serbia, Dies at 76"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
6 April
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Serbian court sentences Milosevic's wife for real estate fraud - report"
.
Reuters
. 27 June 2018. Archived from
the original
on 28 June 2018
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Serbia appeals court overturns verdict for Milosevic's widow"
.
MSN
. Associated Press. 26 March 2019
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
- ^
Dai Richards (Series Producer/Director) (January 2003).
The Fall of Milosevic
(Documentary). BBC TWO.
- ^
a
b
c
Schudel, Matt (20 April 2019).
"Mirjana Markovic, wife and political adviser to Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, dies at 76"
.
-The Washington Post
. Retrieved
22 April
2019
.
- ^
Mu?ibabi?, Daliborka (13 July 2010).
"
"Ve?na vatra" ? paljenje ili ru?enje"
.
Politika
(in Serbian)
. Retrieved
27 March
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Lebor, Adam (18 April 2019).
"Mirjana Markovic, Serbian politician, 1942-2019"
.
Financial Times
.
Archived
from the original on 10 December 2022
. Retrieved
22 April
2019
.
Some sources have said she died in Sochi.
- ^
"Yugoslav Left"
.
Free Serbia
. 10 December 1999. Archived from
the original
on 2 March 2012
. Retrieved
28 March
2019
.
- ^
"Mirina knjiga okupila drugove"
(in Serbian). B92. 20 March 2012
. Retrieved
28 March
2019
.
- ^
"Nova knjiga Mirjane Markovi?"
(in Serbian). RTS. 21 March 2012
. Retrieved
28 March
2019
.
- ^
"Official: Milosevic family welcome back in Serbia"
. Associated Press. 19 September 2012. Archived from
the original
on 11 November 2013
. Retrieved
28 March
2019
.
- ^
Roberts, Sam (15 April 2019).
"Mirjana Markovic, the 'Lady Macbeth' of War-Torn Serbia, Dies at 76"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
11 September
2020
.
- ^
Politika
(21 April 2019).
"Opelo pod lipom"
(in Serbian)
. Retrieved
5 July
2019
.
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Quotations related to
Mirjana Markovi?
at Wikiquote
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International
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National
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Other
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