Juraj Njavro was a Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n medical doctor and politician.

Njavro was born in Cerovica, near Neum

Neum

Neum is the only coastal town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It comprises of coastline, the country's only access to the Adriatic Sea. As of 2009, municipal population was of 4,605 and the one of Neum main town was of 4,268 .-Features:Neum has steep hills, sandy beaches, and several large tourist...

 in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

 (today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

). He attended elementary school here and gymnasium in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

, Croatia.

He served as a surgeon Vukovar

Vukovar

Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...

's hospital during the city's intense siege

Battle of Vukovar

The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army , supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroque town was a prosperous, mixed community of Croats,...

 within the Croatian War of Independence

Croatian War of Independence

The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...

. He continued to work in the hospital right up until the fall of the city to Serb forces. Njavro was subsequently imprisoned and taken to the Sremska Mitrovica camp

Sremska Mitrovica camp

Sremska Mitrovica prison is the biggest prison in Serbia, consisting of two facilities. It is situated in Sremska Mitrovica, Vojvodina province....

 in Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

. In late 1991 Njavro was released as part of a prisoner exchange.

He took part in Croatia's first post-independence parliamentary elections in 1992 and was elected as a member of the Croatian Democratic Union

Croatian Democratic Union

The Croatian Democratic Union is the main center-right political party in Croatia. It is the biggest and strongest individual Croatian party since independence of Croatia. The Christian democratic HDZ governed Croatia from 1990 to 2000 and, in partial coalition, from 2003...

. From August 12, 1992 to October 12, 1993 he served as Croatia's Minister of Health. He served as a minister without portfolio from October 12, 1993 to November 7, 1995, won reelection in 1995

Croatian parliamentary election, 1995

-Subsequent changes:The following changes happened after elections:*The Croatian Pure Party of Rights gained one member of parliament*The Croatian Christian Democratic Union gained one more member of parliament*The Serb People's Party lost one member of parliament...

, and served again without portfolio from November 13, 1996 to December 19, 1997. From December 19, 1997 to January 27, 2000 he served as Minister of Defenders from the Homeland War. He was reelected again in 2000

Croatian parliamentary election, 2000

Elections for the Chamber of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament were held on January 3, 2000. These were the first elections to be held after the expiration of a full term of the previous Chamber....

 and retired in 2003.

Njavro wrote a book about his internment during the war entitled Glava dolje, ruke na leđa. After his retirement he served as the president of the Association of Croatian volunteer doctors 1990-1991.

He died on September 15, 2008 in Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 and was buried in the city's Mirogoj Cemetery

Mirogoj Cemetery

The Mirogoj Cemetery is considered to be one of the most beautiful cemetery parks in Europe and, because of its design, numbers among the more noteworthy landmarks in the City of Zagreb....

.