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 A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

of Croatia in 1991.

Personal life

Šime Đodan was born on 27 December 1927 in the village of Rodaljce (part of Benkovac), in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Đodan graduated from the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

at University of Zagreb in 1960. In 1965, Đodan obtained his doctorate from the Faculty of Economics, which is also located in Zagrab He served as a member of the presidency and economic secretary of

Matica hrvatska Matica hrvatska ( la, Matrix Croatica) is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyri ...

from 1967 until 1971. He was sentenced to six years in a Yugoslav prison for his collaboration during the

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 ...

. He went on to become a professor at the Faculty of Law in Zagreb in 1991. Đodan published a number of books concerning economics. He topics included the economic situation of Croatia, the production of goods and services, and economic development.

Politics

Šime Đodan served in the Croatian parliament for two terms. His first term was from 1990 until 1992 and his second term extended from 1992 until 1995. Đodan briefly served as the Croatian Minister of Defense from 2 July 1991 until 17 July 1991. He served as president of the

from 1991 to 1992 and as a member of the presidency of the HDZ. His political life was marked with controversial rhetoric, most infamously an August 1991 remark in Sinj about the Serbs having "smaller brains" and "pointy heads".

Death

Šime Đodan died on 2 October 2007 at the age of 79 in a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

in Dubrovnik, Croatia, after a long illness. His funeral was held on 5 October 2007 in Dubrovnik.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodan, Sime 1927 births 2007 deaths People from Benkovac Croatian Democratic Union politicians Croatian economists Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni University of Zagreb faculty Defence ministers of Croatia Order of Ante Starčević recipients Croatian independence activists