Milka Planinc ( Malada; ; 21 November 1924 – 7 October 2010) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

n politician active in

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. She served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

from 1982 to 1986, the first and only woman to hold this office. Planinc was the first female

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

of a diplomatically recognized

Communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Early life

Planinc was born Milka Malada in a mixed ethnic Croat and ethnic Serb family in Žitnić, a small village near Drniš,

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

in modern-day Croatia. She attended school until the onset of World War II interrupted her education. She joined the Communist Youth League in 1941, which was a pivotal year in Planinc's life and for her country.

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

invaded Yugoslavia and divided the country among German, Italian, Hungarian, and Bulgarian occupying authorities. Soon a resistance movement known as the Partisans was formed, led by Marshal Josip Broz Tito. Planinc waited impatiently for the day when she would be old enough to join the anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia. Aged 19, Planinc joined the Partisans and became extremely devoted to Tito. In 1944 she joined the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

. She became county commissar of the 11th Dalmatian Shock Brigade whose job it was to teach party principles and policies, and ensure party loyalty. Planinc spent years working for the Partisans and the Communist Party, and when they gained control of the entire region she enrolled in the Higher School of Administration in Zagreb to continue her education. Partisan commander

Simo Dubajić Simo Dubajić (September 1, 1923 – July 8, 2009) was a Yugoslav Partisan soldier. A Serb from Croatia, he gained prominence by being involved in inter-ethnic conflicts between Croats and Serbs on two occasions, once during World War II and agai ...

, himself accused of war crimes, later alleged that Planinc was involved with the post-war massacre at Kočevski Rog. In 1950, she married an engineer named Zvonko Planinc. The couple had a son and a daughter.

Political career

Planinc began to pursue a full-time career within the

League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia ( sh, Savez komunista Hrvatske or SKH) was the Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (''Komunistička ...

. She specialized in education, agitation, and propaganda, and in 1959 she was elected into the Croatian Central Committee, the executive body. Having served in a variety of posts in Zagreb, as the Secretary of the People's Assembly of Trešnjevka in 1957 and then the Secretary of Cultural Affairs of the City of

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

in 1961, she became the Secretary of the City of Zagreb League of Communists Committee, and the Secretary for Education of the Socialist Republic of Croatia in 1963, a position in which she remained until 1965. Greater party acknowledgement did not come until 1966 when she was elected into the Presidium of the League of Communists of Croatia (LCC), and then to the executive committee of the LCC in 1968. She served as the President of the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Croatia 1967–1971. After the events of

Croatian Spring The Croatian Spring ( hr, Hrvatsko proljeće), or Maspok, was a political conflict that took place from 1967 to 1971 in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, at the time part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As one of six republic ...

, the leadership of LCC was removed, and Planinc became president of the Central Committee in 1971. She made the decision to arrest

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...

Marko Veselica Marko Veselica (January 9, 1936 – February 17, 2017 in Zagreb) was a Croatian politician, economist and university professor. During the Croatian Spring, Marko Veselica developed a reputation of being a Croatian nationalist. He was close to I ...

, Dražen Budiša,

Šime Đodan Šime Đodan (27 December 1927 – 2 October 2007) was a Croatian politician, a two-term Member of Parliament who also briefly served as the 3rd Minister of Defense of Croatia in 1991. Personal life Šime Đodan was born on 27 December 1927 ...

and Vlado Gotovac, among others, who had all participated in the Croatian Spring. She remained the Leader of the League of Communists of Croatia until 1982. When Tito died in 1980, he left a plan for a rotation of eight leaders, with the leader coming from each federal unit in turn. On 29 April 1982, the Federal Conference of the Socialist Alliance of the Working People of Yugoslavia approved a list of ministers submitted by Planinc, and on 15 May 1982 a joint session of the National Assembly's two houses named her head of the Federal Executive Council; thus she became prime minister.Stankovic, Slobodan
Yugoslavia's New Federal Government Formed
6 May 1982.

Blinken Open Society Archives Blinken Open Society Archives (abbreviated as Blinken OSA) is an archival repository and laboratory that aims to explore new ways of assessing, contextualizing, presenting, and making use of archival documents both in a professional and a conscio ...

(retrieved on 15 April 2008) She became the first woman to occupy such a high post in the country's 64-year history. Planinc had a new governmental body, The Federal Executive Committee, and it consisted of 29 members. All of the members of this committee were new, except for five that were members of the old committee. She would serve as the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Federal Executive Council (Prime Minister) of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

(a post equivalent to

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

) between 1982 and 1986. Her mandate as prime minister was remembered as the times when the government finally decided to regulate external debt of SFR Yugoslavia and to start to pay it back. In order to achieve necessary means, her cabinet implemented restrictive economic measures for a few years. The 1974 constitution had left the central government with very little authority, as the power was divided into the separate republics. Planinc tried to re-focus the central government and gain international alliances with visits to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Though her visits to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

gave her promises of economic support, her visit to

was said to be with ''"nothing lost, and nothing gained"''. Planinc offered her resignation in October 1985, but this was not accepted. On 12 February 1986 Planinc's government submitted a request to the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

for advanced surveillance. The request was approved a month later. Her term ended in May 1986, and before long she became a member of the LCY Central Committee.

Later life

Planinc spent the rest of her time living through

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...

with the

collapse of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

in Europe. In 1993 her husband died, and in 1994 her son Zoran committed suicide. From the late 1990s until her death, Planinc required the use of a wheelchair and rarely left her home. She resided in

until her death on 7 October 2010, aged 85. She was interred at the

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, hr, Gradsko groblje Mirogoj), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery ( hr, Groblje Mirogoj), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members o ...

.Gradska groblja Zagreb: Milka Planinc, Mirogoj RKT-51-II/I-202

References

Sources

* , . * Skard, Torild (2014) "Milka Planinc" in ''Women of Power - Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide''. Bristol: Policy Press, . , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Planinc, Milka 1924 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Croatian women politicians 20th-century Croatian politicians Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia members Croatian communists Female heads of government League of Communists of Croatia politicians Members of the Federal Council for Protection of the Constitutional Order (Yugoslavia) People from Drniš Presidents of the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia Prime Ministers of Croatia Serbs of Croatia Yugoslav Partisans members Women prime ministers Women in the Yugoslav Partisans