Osman Kulenović (15 December 1889 – 7 June 1947) was a Yugoslav politician and lawyer, most notable for serving as the Vice President of the

Government of the Independent State of Croatia The Croatian State Government ( hr, Hrvatska državna vlada) was the government of the Independent State of Croatia from 16 April 1941 until 8 May 1945. On 11 April 1941, after the proclamation of the Independent State of Croatia, Slavko Kvatern ...

in 1941.

Early life

Osman Kulenović was born to a wealthy Bosniak family in

Kulen Vakuf Kulen Vakuf (Serbian Cyrillic: Кулен Вакуф) is a village in the Municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, municipality of Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kulen Vakuf was the birthplace of Bosnian Ottoman nobleman Mehmed-beg Kulenović. ...

, present-day

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. When he entered the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

he joined the

Party of Rights The Party of Rights ( hr, Stranka prava) was a Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influenti ...

. During

Austrian-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...

rule he was among the younger representatives in the Croatian ''Sabor''. His colleague was

Ante Pavelić Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, l ...

, the future ''

Poglavnik () was the title used by Ante Pavelić, leader of the World War II Croatian movement Ustaše and of the Independent State of Croatia between 1941 and 1945. Etymology and usage The word was first recorded in a 16th-century dictionary compiled ...

'' of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

. Kulenović graduated from the Faculty of Law,

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

in 1917, where he gained his Ph.D. as well. At the beginning of the 1920s he was the municipality president of

Kotor Varoš Kotor Varoš ( sr-cyrl, Котор Варош) is a town and municipality located in north-western Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 19,710 inhabitants, while the town of Kotor Varo ...

, but due to his Croatian nationalist views, he was removed from the office. In 1923, after he was removed from the municipal post, he worked as a lawyer in

Bihać Bihać ( cyrl, Бихаћ) is a city and the administrative centre of Una-Sana Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of river Una in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovin ...

Independent State of Croatia

After the proclamation of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in April 1941, Pavelić invited Kulenović to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

and named him vice president of the

on 16 April. Soon

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

and

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

became important political centres of the NDH, alongside Zagreb. Pavelić even considered moving several ministries to Banja Luka. As part of this policy, the vice presidency moved to Banja Luka, where Kulenović continued to work. As vice president, Kulenović visited towns and moved among the people. He informed Pavelić about the atrocities committed against the

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

population. After three months working for the government, Kulenović tendered his resignation, which Pavelić accepted only when he named Osman's brother, Džafer, to the post. In November, the seat of the vice presidency was returned to Zagreb. Osman Kulenović was part of the Croatian delegation that went to Rome to sign the Treaty of Rome in which Croatia ceded large parts of its coast to Italy. In November 1941 Kulenović was named advisor and was assigned to the Foreign Ministry. In 1943 he greeted the Mufti of Jerusalem,

Amin al-Husseini Mohammed Amin al-Husseini ( ar, محمد أمين الحسيني 1897 – 4 July 1974) was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine. Al-Husseini was the scion of the al-Husayni family of Jerusalemite Arab notab ...

, after which he went to retirement, and lived in Zagreb until the end of the war. On 6 May 1945, he moved with rest of the officials towards Austria. He surrendered to the British authorities and was detained in a prison camp. On 10 October 1946, the British extradited him to the Yugoslav authorities which convicted him and other high-ranking NDH officials including

Slavko Kvaternik Slavko Kvaternik (25 August 1878 – 7 June 1947) was a Croatian Ustaše military general and politician who was one of the founders of the Ustaše movement. Kvaternik was military commander and Minister of '' Domobranstvo'' (''Armed Forces''). O ...

on 7 June 1947. Kulenović was executed on the same day.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kulenovic, Osman 1889 births 1947 deaths Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims Croatian Muslims People from Bihać People from the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian Muslim collaborators with Nazi Germany Bosnian Muslim collaborators with Fascist Italy Executed Yugoslav collaborators with Nazi Germany Executed Bosnia and Herzegovina people