Željko Jovanović (born 26 November 1965) is a Croatian politician and physician who served as Minister of Science, Education and Sports from 2011 until 2014. He is a member of the center-left

Social Democratic Party of Croatia The Social Democratic Party of Croatia (, SDP) is a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is Anti-fascism, anti-fascist, Progressivism, progressive, and strongly Pro-Europeanism, pro-European. The SDP was forme ...

Early life

Jovanović, an ethnic

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

, was born on 26 November 1965 in

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

. He spent his early childhood in Grobnik, Podhum and Svilno with his parents Niko and Petra. He enrolled into elementary school after moving to . His brother Slobodan was born in this period. Jovanović's class was the only group in generation which studied Russian as the foreign language in the school. As a child, Jovanović was interested in sports and movies. He particularly liked

Otpisani ''Otpisani'' (Serbian Cyrillic: Отписани, ) is a Yugoslav drama TV series, produced by Radio Television Belgrade and first aired in 1974. The series follows the lives of young partisans during the Second World War in occupied Belgrade. I ...

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

and

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

. In 1978, he participated in "Šamac Sarajevo 78" youth work action.

Education

Jovanović graduated medicine from the School of Medicine of the

University of Rijeka The University of Rijeka () is in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, with faculties in cities throughout the regions of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Primorje, Istria and Lika. The University of Rijeka is composed of eleven faculties, one art academy ...

, and gained master's degree's in the field of

biomedical sciences Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbio ...

(Rijeka School of Medicine, 1995) and in the field of

marketing management Marketing management is the strategic organizational discipline that focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of marketing resources and a ...

(Rijeka Faculty of Economics, 2005). He also holds doctorate in

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

. During his studies Jovanović was involved in student politics and he was president of the Student Union at the School of Medicine, president of the Student Board of the University of Rijeka and the First Student Vice-Rector. He completed further professional development at the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

and

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

Politics

Since 23 December 2011, Jovanović has held the post of Minister of Science, Education and Sports in the

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

government of

Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatia, Croatian politician and the incumbent president of Croatia. First elected in 2020, he was re-elected in 2025 with 74% voter support. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was the prime min ...

. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

biomedical science Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbi ...

and his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in economics at the

in 2005. On 13 January 2012,

Antun Vrdoljak Antun Vrdoljak (; born 5 June 1931) is a Croatian film actor and director, sports official, and head of Croatian Radiotelevision during the Yugoslav Wars. Between the 1960s and early 1990s he was mainly a film artist. In the early 1990s he became ...

threatened to sue if Jovanović did not apologize for accusing Vrdoljak, in his capacity as member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

, of "selling the candidacy of the City of Rijeka for hosting the Mediterranean games.""Vrdoljak threatens to file a lawsuit if Jovanovic doesn’t apologize"
12 January 2012; accessed 4 March 2014.

Personal life

Jovanović was a member of the

Croatian Army The Croatian Army ( or HKoV) is the land force branch of the Croatian Armed Forces. It is numerically the largest of the three branches of the Croatian Armed Forces. The HKoV is the main force for the defense of the country against external threa ...

during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

. He is married and has one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jovanovic, Zeljko 1965 births Living people Politicians from Rijeka Serbs of Croatia University of Rijeka alumni Social Democratic Party of Croatia politicians Education ministers of Croatia Science ministers of Croatia Sports ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Alumni of London Business School INSEAD alumni Croatian physicians