In 1974, Kardelj was diagnosed with
colon cancer, and after diagnosed, his doctors consulted with American and Swedish doctors about further treatment. Shortly after returning from
Washington D.C. in 1977, his health began to deteriorate. Later in 1977, Kardelj underwent two operations after it was discovered that the cancer had spread to his
lungs and
liver. At the end of 1978, he fell seriously ill. In January 1979, his health did not improve, so he was admitted to
Ljubljana University Medical Centre in the beginning of February, where he fell into a coma on the 9th. On 10 February 1979, after being in a coma for 20 hours, Kardelj died at the age of 69. Kardelj's funeral was held on 13 February 1979 in
Ljubljana. His body was cremated and buried in the Ljubljana tomb of national heroes. During his lifetime, he was given several honors. He was appointed a member of the
Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts and was officially honored as a
People's Hero of Yugoslavia. Apart from many streets, the entire coastal town of
Ploče in southern
Croatia was renamed
Kardeljevo in his honour from 1950 to 1954 and again from 1980 to 1990. Immediately after his death, the
University of Ljubljana changed its name to "Edvard Kardelj University of Ljubljana" (). After the collapse of Yugoslavia, most of these were restored to their previous names, but in
Slovenia there are still some street and square names that bear his name; for example, a square in
Nova Gorica and in
Velenje. Edvard Kardelj was the father of the
poet , who committed suicide in 1971. His wife Pepca Kardelj died of a heart attack in 1990 but was widely rumored to have committed suicide. His grandson is
Igor Šoltes, a lawyer and politician. == Awards ==