Koča Popović

Popović came from a prosperous Belgrade family and spent the First World War in Switzerland. He became an active Surrealist, active in both the French and Serbian Surrealist groups. In 1931 Nacrt za jednu fenomenologiju iracionalnog (Outline for a Phenomenology of the Irrational) was published which he had co-written with Marko Ristić. Popović then became involved with the then illegal Yugoslav Communist Party. In Paris there was a center run by Comintern and headed by Josip Broz Tito, which was used to feed volunteers from the Balkans to the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Popović was drafted through this center along with a select group of Party members. Popović fought with Spanish Republican forces and not the International Brigades, holding the rank of artillery captain. At the close of the Spanish Civil War Popović escaped through France and made his way back to Yugoslavia. World War II in Drvar, 1943 In 1940, as a reserve officer in the Royal Yugoslav Army, Popović was mobilized and told by his Colonel to watch out for subversive activities within the regiment. After the surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army to the German Army in April 1941, Popović organized the Kosmaj detachment during the uprising in Serbia. On the formation of the First Proletarian Brigade, Popović became its commander, and subsequently commanded the First Proletarian Division. During his time leading the Partisans he encountered William Deakin, leader of the British military mission to Tito's headquarters, who wrote of Popović: ==Post-war==

Alongside dozens of other WW2 and Spanish Civil War veterans, Popović was among the founding fathers of the Partizan Belgrade football club in October 1945. After the establishment of a communist regime in Yugoslavia in 1945, he served as the Chief of the Yugoslavian General Staff from 1945 until 1953. In this function he also conducted negotiations with the representatives of Western powers associated with the modernisation of the JNA during the conflict with the Soviet Union (i.e., Informbiro). Consequently, Popović became the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia in 1953 and held this office until 1965. As Foreign Minister, he was the head of the Yugoslav delegation to the UN General Assembly sessions on several occasions. From 1965 until 1972, Popović acted as a member of the Federal Executive Council and the Vice President of Yugoslavia from 1966 until 1967. In 1985, he and Peko Dapčević were considered for promotion in rank General of the Army, but they both rejected the proposition. Popović died in Belgrade in 1992 at the age of 84. ==Honours==