Budimir Lončar (1 April 1924 – 1 September 2024) was a Yugoslav and Croatian official and diplomat most notable for serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

from 1987 until 1991. Lončar also served as ambassador of Yugoslavia to Indonesia, Germany and the United States. In 1984, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia, and in 1987 Minister of Foreign Affairs. He held this post until the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991. From 1993 to 1995, Lončar served as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...

. He was advisor in various

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

, like

Appeal of Conscience Foundation Founded by Rabbi Arthur Schneier in 1965, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation is an interfaith partnership of corporate and spiritual leaders from all faiths who come together to promote "peace, tolerance and ethnic conflict resolution." Mission ...

, The World Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and the

Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), otherwise known as the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts around the world through mediation and discreet diplomacy. A non-profit organisation base ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. He later served as an advisor to Croatian presidents

Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatia, Croatian lawyer and politician who served as the president of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minis ...

and

Ivo Josipović Ivo Josipović (; born 28 August 1957) is a Croatia, Croatian Academic staff, academic, jurist, composer, and politician who served as the president of Croatia from 2010 to 2015. Josipović entered politics as a member of the League of Communist ...

Early life and education

Lončar ancestors originally moved to the island of

Ugljan Ugljan () is an List of inhabited islands of Croatia, island in northern Dalmatia, Croatia, and the first in the Zadar Archipelago. It is located northwest of the island of Pašman and southeast of the islands of Rivanj and Sestrunj. Separated f ...

from the

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

region. Budimir's father Ive and mother Ivana, both born in 1884, were both from the island of Ugljan. They had 10 children, 5 of which survived their early childhood, one of which was the youngest Budimir. Alongside Budimir, the other four were his oldest sister Anastazija (born in 1906), and his brothers Šime, Stanko, and Ante (Tonći). Budimir's father was a ship owner and he traded with the mainland city of

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

which at the time was under the Italian control. The city of Zadar with its elegant buildings,

gelato Gelato (; ; ) refers to a specific type of ice cream of Italian origin. In Italian, ''Gelato'' is the common word for all types of ice cream. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of ...

shops, and

Perugina Perugina is an Italian chocolate confectionery company based in Perugia, Italy that was founded in 1907. The company also operates a chocolate-making school at its factory in Perugia, which commenced in 2007. Perugina was purchased by and becam ...

chocolates left a strong impression on young Budimir who described it as his first urban experience. His mother Ivana was a devout

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and two of his uncles were Roman Catholic

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

s. Under the influence of his father Budimir moved to

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

to complete gymnasium

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

. His class master and physics professor was Bogdan Ogrizović who influenced him to join Yugoslav Partisans.

World War II in Yugoslavia

During the

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was Invasion of Yugoslavia, invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis powers, Axis forces and partitioned among Nazi Germany, Germany, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), It ...

the country was divided and Lončar's region was incorporated into the

Governorate of Dalmatia The Governorate of Dalmatia (; ) was an administrative division of the Kingdom of Italy that existed during two periods, first from 1918 to 1920 and then from 1941 to 1943. The first Governorate of Dalmatia was established following the end of Wo ...

of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. Lončar joined

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

in June 1942 where he was active as a member of the

League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia The League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia (SSOJ) was the youth movement, member organisation of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ). Membership stood at more than 3.6 million individuals in 1983. It was originally est ...

. Under the mentorship of Jure Kaštelan Lončar edited ''Omladinska iskra'' magazine. He was wounded on two occasions, first in 1943 on the island of Ugljan and in 1944 on

Dugi Otok Dugi Otok (; Croatian for "Long Island") is part of Croatia and the seventh largest island in the Adriatic Sea. It is located off the Dalmatian coast, west of Zadar. It is the largest and westernmost of the Zadarian Islands, and derives its nam ...

Early career

In May 1950, Lončar was invited to become consul and adviser at the Mission of Yugoslavia to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

where he remained until 1956. After the posting at the New York mission he returned to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

to the position of the Chief of Analytics and Political Planning at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he remained until 1964.

Post-retirement

Lončar

turned 100 A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

on 1 April 2024. Five months later, on 1 September, Lončar died in his birthplace of Preko, on the island of Ugljan.

References

Sources