Aleksandar Ranković

Ranković was born in the village of Draževac near Obrenovac in the Kingdom of Serbia. Born into a poor family, Ranković lost his father at a young age. He attended primary school in his hometown. He went to Belgrade to work and joined the workers' movement. He was also influenced by his colleagues who, at the time when the Communist Party was banned, brought communist magazines and literature with them, which were read by Ranković. At age 15 he joined the union. In 1927 he met his future wife Anđa, and a year later he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Soon he was named Secretary-General of the League of Communists of Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) in Belgrade. ==Interwar Yugoslavia==

After becoming a member of the then-illegal Communist Party in 1928, Ranković was named Secretary of the Communist Youth of Serbia. Undeterred by the January 6th Dictatorship, the group continued producing political flyers to be distributed in Belgrade and Zemun. During a police raid, one of the other activists was arrested and gave up the identities of the other members. Ranković was put on trial before the National Court for the Protection of the State in May of 1929, and was ultimately sentenced to 6 years in prison. During his incarceration in Sremska Mitrovica and Lepoglava, he remained active in promoting Marxism and Leninism to younger prisoners, and fought to improve the living conditions for political prisoners. After his release from prison, he met Anđa Jovanović and the two were married shortly thereafter. After completing his compulsory military service, the pair moved to Belgrade in January of 1937. While working as a member of the League of Communists of Serbia during this time, he was promoted to secretary by Tito, a role which he held until 1941. While living illegally in Belgrade, he began to go by the name "Marko", replacing his previous nickname, "Leka". In October 1940, Ranković participated in the Fifth Land Conference of the KPJ held in Zagreb. ==Communist Yugoslavia==

Ranković was a member of the Politburo from 1940. At the beginning of the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia Ranković was secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia. Ranković was first member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia who came to Belgrade after it was occupied in April 1941. Ranković was ordered by Tito to investigate why members of the Serbian Communist Party left Belgrade and went to rural region of Serbia, and invited them to return to Belgrade. The order was followed by all 250 communists from Belgrade, except Vasilije Buha. Ranković was captured and tortured by the German Gestapo in 1941 but was later rescued in a daring raid by Yugoslav Partisans. His wife and mother were killed by the Gestapo during the war. Ranković served on the Supreme Staff throughout the war. He was named a "People's Hero" for his services during World War II. In May 1944, Ranković created OZNA, the Partisan's security agency. After the war, he became minister of the interior and chief of the military intelligence agency UDBA, which had replaced OZNA. In 1959, Edvard Kardelj, then Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia, was shot and wounded by Jovan Veselinov during a hunt. Although the official police investigation concluded that Veselinov had been shooting at a wild boar and Kardelj was struck by a ricochet from a rock, it was suggested at the time that the assassination attempt was orchestrated by his political rival Ranković or Ranković's, ally Slobodan Penezić. Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo A state of emergency that existed throughout Yugoslavia until 1948 was maintained in Kosovo till the middle of the 1960s. Kosovo Albanians were singled out for harsher treatment as they had resisted the reinstatement of Yugoslav control after the end of the Second World War. Following the Yugoslav-Soviet Union split (1948), local Albanians were viewed by the state as possible collaborators of pro-Soviet Albania and consequently Kosovo became an area of focus for the secret service and police force under Ranković. Kosovo under the control of Ranković was viewed by Turkey as the individual that would implement "the Gentleman's Agreement", a deal (1953) reached between Tito and Turkish foreign Minister Mehmet Fuat Köprülü that promoted Albanian emigration to Anatolia. Over time, evidence against Ranković was collected by his opponents. The secret police force under Ranković had spied on individuals belonging to the communist leadership group, with reports of attempted blackmail involving their personal information. Ranković was dismissed from the communist party (SKJ) and prohibited from participating in public functions. and his patriotic pursuit to secure the region was debunked. Reforms decentralising government and greater powers for the republics were enacted after the Ranković era and Tito changed his view and stated that recognition of Muslims and their national identity should occur. Serb nationalists within the communist party warned Tito that the removal of Ranković was an unforgivable offense to Serbs in the country as he represented Serbia. Ranković thereafter for the duration of his life kept a low profile until his death. ==Death==

Ranković retired to Dubrovnik, where he died on 19 August 1983 after suffering a second heart attack. The funeral itself became a Serb "nationalistic event" where attendees expressed sentiments that a Ranković figure was required in Kosovo to control the Albanian population. ==Legacy==

In Serbia, the burial of Ranković was the first demonstration by the Serb public against the ideology of Titoism. Abiding by policies of Tito that restricted public sentiments of national division, state authorities and media attempted to sideline the demands of a protest petition and to downplay the nationalist aspects regarding the funeral. The authorities were astounded by the events at the funeral, as they expected people to have forgotten about someone who was in complete media and political isolation for almost two decades. By gathering in such crowds, people showed the government what they thought of it, but also what they thought of all the allegations, isolation and silence which had surrounded Ranković since 1966. Still, the authorities, for years after, did not allow photos where Ranković stood next to Tito or any of the other world leaders. Publishing of his memoirs was also banned for years. For Kosovo Albanians, Ranković became a symbol that represented misery and suffering, as they associated him with negative actions toward them. == Awards ==

Egypt: • Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile (1956) ==See also==