Nijaz Duraković

Duraković was born in Stolac on New Year's Day 1949. He completed his primary and secondary education there, and then his BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees in sociology at the University of Sarajevo. He was the last President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 29 June 1989 until December 1990 and the first president of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1997. He was the candidate in the 1990 Bosnian general election. On 20 October 1993, he became a member of the War Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, staying on that position until 5 October 1996.

Beyond politics, he was widely recognized as one of the country's most prolific authors. Duraković's body of work includes 16 books and more than 200 scientific journals and articles which he wrote during his tenure as Senior Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo. His most prominent book is The Curse of Muslims (Prokletstvo Muslimana).

He died on 29 January 2012 in Sarajevo following a heart attack.

• Nijaz Duraković Park in Sarajevo

• Al-Jazeera Balkans article on his death
• Sarajevo-x.com article on his death