Franjo Tuđman was an anti-fascist during World War II, a historian, a political prisoner, and the first President of Croatia.

To afford his education in Zagreb, he had to work even as a twelve-year-old boy. Therefore, it is not surprising that he leaned towards the labor movement, and at the age of nineteen, he joined the war against fascism.

After the Second World War, he had a military career ahead of him; he became a general, but he preferred to dedicate himself to science. He published books and articles, taught at the university, and even earned a doctorate!

During the Croatian Spring in 1971, he did not agree with the official policy. He publicly criticized it, was expelled from the Party, and spent a few years in prison. In the early ’80s, he gave interviews to European media, praising democracy, addressing the inequality of Croats, and once again found himself in prison.

In the early ’90s, winds of change blew as Yugoslavia was gradually fading away, and democracy was arriving at our doorstep. In the first free elections, Francek became the first Croatian president! However, the country found itself in a war and needed to defend against the Greater-Serbian aggression. He combined military expertise and diplomacy, emerging victorious from the Homeland War.