Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia
Took office on 18 February 2010.
He is a university professor, a member of parliament and a composer. He tought criminal procedure law, international criminal law and misdemeanour law at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Law. He was a member of several domestic and international legal and artists' associations. He has published 85 scholarly and professional works in domestic and international journals and written some 50 compositions performed by prestigious Croatian and foreign musicians.
Ivo Josipovic was born in Zagreb on August 28, 1957, where he attended primary and secondary school. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1980 and passed my bar examination. He completed my MA on the topic of criminal law in 1985, and my PhD in 1994 with a dissertation titled "Right of Arrest and Detention in Criminal Procedure Law". He represented Croatia before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He participated in several international projects and acted as a Council of Europe expert in the evaluation of prisons in Ukraine, Mongolia and Azerbaijan.
After attending secondary music school, he continued my music education in the Composition department of the Zagreb Academy of Music. He wrote compositions for different instruments, chamber orchestras and the symphony orchestra; and among other works, he composed "Igra staklenih perli" (Glass Bead Play), "Tuba Ludens", "Samba da Camera" and "Hiljadu lotosa" (A Thousand Lotuses). He received a number of domestic and international prizes for my compositions, including the European Broadcasting Award and the Croatian discography award "Porin," in 1999 and 2000. These are today performed by numerous domestic and foreign soloists and orchestras. He speaks English and intermediate German.
From 1980 he was a member of the Communists' Union of Croatia and participated in its democratic transformation; he was one of the initial drafters of the first statute of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In 1994, he interrupted my engagement in politics and the SDP and fully devoted myself to law and music. However, my political passions could not be stifled, and so he returned to politics in 2003. Upon the invitation of Ivica Ra?an, he became an independent MP of the SDP in the Croatian Parliament and Vice-President of the SDP Representatives' Club. During his 2005 mandate, he was a representative in the City of Zagreb Assembly. In 2007, he was re-elected to the Croatian Parliament. In the Parliament, he has been a member of parliamentary committees for legislation, the judiciary and the Constitution, for parliamentary rules of procedure and for the political system. He was also a member of the committee for deliberating on conflict of interest. Last year he formally renewed his membership in the SDP. Today, he is the SDP candidate for President. The basic concept that his candidacy rests upon is "NEW JUSTICE" - a social and legal framework for the creation of a better Croatian society, which would address deep social injustices and the trauma caused by a mismanaged transition , and redefine our social values. By fighting corruption and organised crime, he aims to make Croatia a safe country for its citizens and their families.
He is married to Tatjana, also a university professor of law, and he has an 18 year-old daughter, Lana.
Stjepan Mesic, Former President of Croatia
Stjepan Mesic was born on 24 December 1934 in Orahovica. Father Josip Mesic and mother Magdalena Mandica Mesic married in 1931 and had two children. Mother died in 1936 and his sister Marija was sent to uncle Tomo Pernar in France while care of Stipe was taken over by grandmother Marija until his father married again and stepmother took over.
Little Stjepan spent World War 2 hiding on Papuk mountain and occasionally liberated Orahovica until when during last offensive he flees to Hungary with his family and some 10,000 other refuges. Family moved to Nasice were his father become president of Municipal board. Family soon moves to Osijek were Stipe finishes forth grade of primary school and two out of eight year gymnasium. Together with his father new position family moves back to old family house in Orahovica Stjepan Mesic completes gymnasium in Pozega. At the end of school he become member of Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
In autumn 1955 attends Faculty of Law at the University of Zagreb and in 1961 graduates. Same year he married Milka Dudunic from Hrvatske Kostajnice and has two daugthers, Sasha born in 1961 and Dunja born in 1963.
Serves military service in 1961, six months in School for reserve officers in Bileca and six in Nish.
