Dragiša Cvetkovic

Cvetković, Dragiša 

Born Jan. 15, 1893, in Niš. State figure in the kingdom of Yugoslavia.

A lawyer by education, Cvetković served as minister of religion in 1928. Between 1929 and 1934 he was among those opposed to the dictatorial regime of King Alexander I Karageorgevich. In 1935, Cvetkovič was elected to the Narodna Skupština and was made minister of social policy and public health. From 1939 to 1941 he was prime minister.

In August 1939 the Cvetkovič government reached an agreement with the leaders of the Croatian Peasant Party whereby Croatia was to be granted autonomy. The government followed a policy of suppression of revolutionary movements and elimination of the remnants of democratic freedoms. On Mar. 25, 1941, it signed an agreement that made Yugoslavia a party to the Berlin Pact of 1940. Two days later, the Cvetkovič government was overthrown in a coup d’etat. Cvetkovič emigrated from Yugoslavia in 1943.