Ivan Penava (born 31 December 1974) is a Croatian

kinesiologist Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in ...

and politician who served as the mayor of

Vukovar Vukovar (; sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, , ) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern Regions of Croatia, regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka (river), Vuka and the Danube. Vukova ...

from 16 June 2014 to 6 June 2025. He was a member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

since 14 October 2016 to 20 October 2016 and is member of Croatian Parliament from 22 July 2020 to present. A former member of the

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ), he is now the president of the

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...

Homeland Movement (DP) since 9 October 2021.

Early life, education and career

Penava was born on 31 December 1974 in

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. His parents are from

Posušje Posušje () is a town and municipality in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Name The name Posušje is derived from ''suša'' ( Croatian for drought). Th ...

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

. Penava spent his childhood in the district of

Borovo Naselje Borovo Naselje ( sr-Cyrl, Борово Насеље; ) is a Vukovar borough located on the right bank of the Danube river in the Croatian region of Slavonia, 4 kilometers northwest of Vukovar town centre; elevation 90 m. The economy is based ...

. He enrolled in the High School of Mathematics and Informatics in Vukovar, however, following 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 ...

and the

Battle of Vukovar The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Bar ...

, the family had to flee to

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

where Penava continued his education and later 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 ...

where he graduated from the

XV Gymnasium Fifteenth Gymnasium () is a public high school in Zagreb, Croatia. It specializes in mathematics and computer science. It was previously called MIOC (; ) and is still well known under that name. History The school was founded as Fifteenth Mathemat ...

.Grad Vukovar
Životopis gradonačelnika - prof. Ivan Penava
, objavljeno: 23. srpnja 2014., pristupljeno 29. listopada 2019. After high school, he decided to focus his interest on sports, considering that he had been very active and successful in rowing since elementary school. He entered the Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb, where he graduated in 1999 and earned the title of professor of kinesiology. In the same year, he represented Croatia at the

Military World Games The Military World Games is a multi-sport event for military sportspeople, organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). They have been held since 1995, although championships for separate sports had been held for some years. A ...

in the rowing team, and performed at international rowing

regattas Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water body, water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and ...

for veterans.Gradonačelnik.hr
Ivan Penava
, pristupljeno 29. listopada 2019. Penava returned to Vukovar and got a job as a physical education and health professor at the Vukovar School of Economics. After eight years of teaching, he was elected director. During three semesters, he worked as an external associate for physical education and health at Lavoslav Ružički Polytechnic School in Vukovar. He gained his doctorate at the Faculty of Economics in 2010, with a thesis titled "''Alignment of Vocational Education with the Labor Market''". He is also the author of several published works in this field.

Political career

Croatian Democratic Union

In 2014, Penava ran for mayor of Vukovar in early local elections as a representative of Croatian Democration Union (HDZ)-led coalition, and in the second round he defeated the previous mayor, Željko Sabo, who was an independent candidate with the support of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SDP)-led coalition.''Ivan Penava, gradonačelnik Vukovara''
razgovarao: Danijel Stanić, ktabkbih.net, 18. studenoga 2015., pristupljeno 3. prosinca 2019.''U drugom krugu Penava (47,43) i Sabo (36,42)''
, radio.hrt.hr, 16. lipnja 2014., pristupljeno 3. prosinca 2019. Penava was elected to the

in the 2016 parliamentary election. He was re-elected mayor in 2017, winning 61.72% of the popular vote. Penava has constantly denied the Serb minority an official status for the

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of ...

in Vukovar, despite ethnic Serbs having been more than 30% of the total population of Vukovar until 2021. In 2019, Penava criticized Serb pupils from Vukovar for not standing up to the Croatian national anthem and called Serb politicians in Croatia "

nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

who want a

Greater Serbia The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia () describes the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology of the creation of a Serb state which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group, inclu ...

Homeland Movement

In 2020, Penava announced his departure from the HDZ to join the

Homeland Movement (DP) of

Miroslav Škoro Miroslav Škoro (; born 29 July 1962) is a Croatian politician, musician, TV host and former diplomat. He is the founder and the first president of the conservative Homeland Movement party, which he established in February 2020 and led until July ...

, stating that he would "never and under no circumstances" be in a coalition with

Milorad Pupovac Milorad Pupovac (; born 5 November 1955) is a Croatian politician and linguist. He is a member of the Sabor, the former president of the Serb National Council, and the president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party. He was also an Member of ...

and his

Independent Democratic Serb Party The Independent Democratic Serb Party ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Самостална демократска српска странка, Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka, SDSS) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia representing the interes ...

(SDSS). He was re-elected to the parliament in the 2020 election. In October 2021, Penava was elected president of DP, succeeding Škoro.

Personal life

Penava is married and has two children. He is a

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 ...

. Besides his native Croatian, he also speaks English.

References

{{Reflist 1974 births Mayors of Vukovar Croatian male rowers Living people Croatian Democratic Union politicians Homeland Movement (Croatia) politicians University of Zagreb alumni Croatian nationalists Croatian Roman Catholics