Vane Ivanović
Encyclopedia
Ivan "Vane" Stefan Ivanović (June 9, 1913 - April 4, 1999) was an athlete, shipowner, political activist, diplomat, writer and philanthropist. One of the founders of the European Movement
and the Consul General of Monaco
in London
, he devoted most of his life to the idea of Yugoslav unity.
, Austria-Hungary
(present-day Croatia
), to a Croat father and a Serb mother. His father, Ivan Rikard Ivanović
, one of the founders of the National Progressive Party
(NNS) and a deputy in Croatia's Sabor (Assembly), had helped to form the state in 1918. His mother, Milica (b. February 26, 1888) was a sister of Dušan Popović, a leading Serb politician in the ruling Croat-Serb Coalition
, which also included the NNS. Svetozar Pribićević
, the other leading Serb in the Coalition, was the best man at Rikard and Milica's wedding in July 1912, while Ivan Lorković
, the NNS leader and the leading Croat in the Coalition, was Ivanović's godfather. Ivanović had a younger brother, Vladimir, born 1917, and a younger sister, Daška Ivanović
, born in 1915. Whereas his family background clearly contributed to the development of Ivanović's strong Yugoslav identity, his life in Britain
and the education he received there (Westminster School
and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read Economics) made him a staunch Anglophile. A rather dandyish figure who supported an impressive cigar, Ivanović appeared to Serbs
and Croats
an English gentleman who spoke a slightly archaic Serbo-Croat; to the British he was considered a no less exotic 'Eastern gentleman'. Despite spending much time in Britain, he never sought to be naturalised, although he did not hold a Yugoslav passport either. He was also the proud owner of two Dalmatian
dogs (apparently there was no connection between the name of the breed and Dalmatia
; that is until 1930, when Ivanović himself, a member of the British Dalmatian Club, took a pair to Dalmatia as a present for his stepfather who had expressed a wish to introduce them there).
held in Berlin
, running the 110-metre and 400-metre hurdles. At the event, he was among the number of athletes who refused to give Hitler the Nazi salute
. He was the undisputed Yugoslav champion in both disciplines throughout the 1930s. In 110m he reached the semi-finals in Berlin and in 400m hurdles he held the Yugoslav record for 17 years, from 1936 until 1953. He maintained his love of the sport throughout his life. His only concession to age was to cut back, in his 80‘s, his runs around Hyde Park to alternate days. Ivanović was also an avid scuba diver. One of the pioneers of the sport, he contributed greatly to its development in Europe
and the Bahamas. He wrote a number of books on spearfishing
, of which one in particular, "Modern Spearfishing" (1974), remains a classic.
business, Yugoslavenski Lloyd, Ltd., (Yugoslav Lloyd), then Yugoslavia's largest shipping company which operated vessels on Atlantic, Adriatic and Mediterranean waters. Ivanović and his siblings moved in with their new stepfather. Banac, a native of Dubrovnik
and a believer in Yugoslav unity, had helped the creation and activities of the "Yugoslav Committee", a group of Habsburg
Croat, Slovene and Serb politicians and intellectuals also based in London. By 1937 Ivanović was made a director in his stepfather's company.
, when Ivanović, acting on behalf of his then ailing stepfather, placed 10 out of the 22 steamers owned by Yugoslav Lloyd in the service of the Ministry of War Transport. Thus, Banac and Ivanović were the first shipowners from a neutral country to join the Allies. After the invasion of Yugoslavia
by Germany
, Italy
and their external and internal allies in April 1941, Ivanović organized other Yugoslav shipowners into the "Yugoslav Shipping Committee". Its aim was to prevent the capture of the Yugoslav mercantile fleet, still in neutral waters, by the Nazis. In the summer of 1943, Ivanović joined the Yugoslav section of the Political Warfare Executive
(PWE) the propaganda arm of Britain's Special Operations Executive
, as most of his fleet, part of the Yugoslav Lloyd, had either been sunk or captured, however, there were still enough Yugoslavian, independently-owned ships plying the seven seas and participating in the Allied effort (under flags of convenience). In his memoirs, Ivanović explains why he did not return to his occupied country to join Josip Broz Tito
's or Draža Mihailović
's resistance movements: "I had no desire to forget the enemy and engage in a fratricidal war among my fellow countrymen, especially as I did not wholly agree with either side." He spent the rest of the war between London, Bari
and Cairo
and was demobilized as a Major
in the British army
. Because of the Communist seizure of power in Yugoslavia, he remained in Britain as a political refugee. In April 1945, Bozidar "Bozo" Banac, Ivanović's stepfather died.
-Quinto, Italy
. That same year his sister was re-married to Lt. Col. Neil McLean
, DSO, who had been a member of Special Operations Executive
during the war. That same year he founded the "Benevolent Association of Free Citizens of Yugoslavia", a charity financed mainly by himself. Through that and as a private individual he helped innumerable refugees, students and political dissidents. He and other like-minded Yugoslavs organized discussions abroad, which led to the two-volume collection "A Democratic Alternative", published in 1963 and 1982, which warned that the establishment of independent states in the Balkans
would spawn 'fatal conflicts'. He continued to help his fellow countrymen until his death, sponsoring a number of postgraduate students who fled the 1990s conflict in Yugoslavia, and was also one of the founders of Jean Monnet
's European Movement
, heading the Yugoslav Committee for more than three decades. In 1967, Ivanović was appointed by the late Prince Rainier III to the post of Consul General of Monaco
in London. Three years later, his mother, Milica, died in Monaco. In 1977, he published his auto-biography entitled: LX, Memoirs of a Yugoslav. In 1982, the final memorandum of the "Democratic Alternative" argued that Yugoslavia could only survive as a democratic community of sovereign nations, and that any other scenario would almost inevitably lead to a civil war. Ivanović lived long enough to witness the awful fulfillment of this prophecy with the outbreak of the Yugoslav wars
. He died in London on 4 April, 1999. His father liked to point out that Ivanović was the first Yugoslav in the family. Born on the eve of unification, he died as its last remnants collapsed.
In 1939 Ivanović married June Fisher with whom he had two sons, Božo and Andrija; and one daughter, Minja.
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
and the Consul General of Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he devoted most of his life to the idea of Yugoslav unity.
Biography
Vane Ivanović was born in 1913 in OsijekOsijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(present-day 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 ...
), to a Croat father and a Serb mother. His father, Ivan Rikard Ivanović
Ivan Rikard Ivanović
Dr. Ivan Rikard Ivanović was one of the founders of the Croatian National Progressive Party...
, one of the founders of the National Progressive Party
National Progressive Party (Slovenia)
The National Progressive Party was a political party in the Carniola region of Austria-Hungary. It was established in 1894 by Ivan Tavčar as the National Party of Carniola and renamed in 1905 to The National Progressive Party...
(NNS) and a deputy in Croatia's Sabor (Assembly), had helped to form the state in 1918. His mother, Milica (b. February 26, 1888) was a sister of Dušan Popović, a leading Serb politician in the ruling Croat-Serb Coalition
Croat-Serb Coalition
The Croat-Serb Coalition was a major political alliance in Austria-Hungary during the beginning of the 20th century that governed the Croatian lands . It represented the political idea of a cooperation of Croats and Serbs in Austria-Hungary for mutual benefit...
, which also included the NNS. Svetozar Pribićević
Svetozar Pribicevic
Svetozar Pribićević was an ethnic Serb politician from Croatia who worked hard for creation of unitaristic Yugoslavia. However, he later became a bitter opponent of the same policy and of the dictatorship of king Aleksandar Karađorđević...
, the other leading Serb in the Coalition, was the best man at Rikard and Milica's wedding in July 1912, while Ivan Lorković
Ivan Lorković
Dr. Ivan Lorković was a Croatian politician and one of the co-founders of the National Progressive Party . He was a prominent member of the Croat-Serb coalition, a supporter of the Republican organization and member of the United Croatian and Serbian academic youth organization...
, the NNS leader and the leading Croat in the Coalition, was Ivanović's godfather. Ivanović had a younger brother, Vladimir, born 1917, and a younger sister, Daška Ivanović
Daška Ivanović
Daška Marija Ivanović , better known as Daška McLean, was the daughter of one of the founders of the Croatian National Progressive Party . She made headlines in Europe and America when she made her 18-year-old daughter a ward of the court in the U.K...
, born in 1915. Whereas his family background clearly contributed to the development of Ivanović's strong Yugoslav identity, his life in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the education he received there (Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read Economics) made him a staunch Anglophile. A rather dandyish figure who supported an impressive cigar, Ivanović appeared to Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
an English gentleman who spoke a slightly archaic Serbo-Croat; to the British he was considered a no less exotic 'Eastern gentleman'. Despite spending much time in Britain, he never sought to be naturalised, although he did not hold a Yugoslav passport either. He was also the proud owner of two Dalmatian
Dalmatian (dog)
The Dalmatian is a breed of dog whose roots are often said to trace back to Dalmatia, a region of Croatia where the first illustrations of the dog have been found. The Dalmatian is noted for its unique black- or brown-spotted coat and was mainly used as a carriage dog in its early days...
dogs (apparently there was no connection between the name of the breed and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
; that is until 1930, when Ivanović himself, a member of the British Dalmatian Club, took a pair to Dalmatia as a present for his stepfather who had expressed a wish to introduce them there).
Sports
A well-known athlete, Ivanović was a member of the Yugoslav team at the 1936 Summer Olympics1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
held in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, running the 110-metre and 400-metre hurdles. At the event, he was among the number of athletes who refused to give Hitler the Nazi salute
Nazi salute
The Nazi salute, or Hitler salute , was a gesture of greeting in Nazi Germany usually accompanied by saying, Heil Hitler! ["Hail Hitler!"], Heil, mein Führer ["Hail, my leader!"], or Sieg Heil! ["Hail victory!"]...
. He was the undisputed Yugoslav champion in both disciplines throughout the 1930s. In 110m he reached the semi-finals in Berlin and in 400m hurdles he held the Yugoslav record for 17 years, from 1936 until 1953. He maintained his love of the sport throughout his life. His only concession to age was to cut back, in his 80‘s, his runs around Hyde Park to alternate days. Ivanović was also an avid scuba diver. One of the pioneers of the sport, he contributed greatly to its development in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Bahamas. He wrote a number of books on spearfishing
Spearfishing
Spearfishing is an ancient method of fishing that has been used throughout the world for millennia. Early civilizations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks....
, of which one in particular, "Modern Spearfishing" (1974), remains a classic.
Career
After his parents' divorce in the early 1920s, Ivanović's mother re-married Božidar "Božo" Banac in London on November 9, 1921. Banac lived in London where he ran a shippingShipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
business, Yugoslavenski Lloyd, Ltd., (Yugoslav Lloyd), then Yugoslavia's largest shipping company which operated vessels on Atlantic, Adriatic and Mediterranean waters. Ivanović and his siblings moved in with their new stepfather. Banac, a native of 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...
and a believer in Yugoslav unity, had helped the creation and activities of the "Yugoslav Committee", a group of Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
Croat, Slovene and Serb politicians and intellectuals also based in London. By 1937 Ivanović was made a director in his stepfather's company.
World War II
In 1914, Banac had placed his ships at the disposal of the British war effort. The family did the same at the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when Ivanović, acting on behalf of his then ailing stepfather, placed 10 out of the 22 steamers owned by Yugoslav Lloyd in the service of the Ministry of War Transport. Thus, Banac and Ivanović were the first shipowners from a neutral country to join the Allies. After the invasion of Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
by Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and their external and internal allies in April 1941, Ivanović organized other Yugoslav shipowners into the "Yugoslav Shipping Committee". Its aim was to prevent the capture of the Yugoslav mercantile fleet, still in neutral waters, by the Nazis. In the summer of 1943, Ivanović joined the Yugoslav section of the Political Warfare Executive
Political Warfare Executive
During World War II, the Political Warfare Executive was a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate both white and black propaganda, with the aim of damaging enemy morale and sustaining the morale of the Occupied countries....
(PWE) the propaganda arm of Britain's Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
, as most of his fleet, part of the Yugoslav Lloyd, had either been sunk or captured, however, there were still enough Yugoslavian, independently-owned ships plying the seven seas and participating in the Allied effort (under flags of convenience). In his memoirs, Ivanović explains why he did not return to his occupied country to join Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's or Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
's resistance movements: "I had no desire to forget the enemy and engage in a fratricidal war among my fellow countrymen, especially as I did not wholly agree with either side." He spent the rest of the war between London, Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
and Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and was demobilized as a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the British army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. Because of the Communist seizure of power in Yugoslavia, he remained in Britain as a political refugee. In April 1945, Bozidar "Bozo" Banac, Ivanović's stepfather died.
Post-War Years
After the war, Ivanović resumed a successful career in shipping, despite the fact that most of his pre-war fleet had been either destroyed or nationalized by the new Yugoslav authorities. In February 1949 Ivanović's father died in GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
-Quinto, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. That same year his sister was re-married to Lt. Col. Neil McLean
Neil McLean (politician)
Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Loudon Desmond McLean DSO, known as Billy McLean , was a British Army intelligence officer and politician who led a celebrated Special Operations Executive operation in Albania during the Second World War, and later attempted to overthrow Communism in the country...
, DSO, who had been a member of Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
during the war. That same year he founded the "Benevolent Association of Free Citizens of Yugoslavia", a charity financed mainly by himself. Through that and as a private individual he helped innumerable refugees, students and political dissidents. He and other like-minded Yugoslavs organized discussions abroad, which led to the two-volume collection "A Democratic Alternative", published in 1963 and 1982, which warned that the establishment of independent states in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
would spawn 'fatal conflicts'. He continued to help his fellow countrymen until his death, sponsoring a number of postgraduate students who fled the 1990s conflict in Yugoslavia, and was also one of the founders of Jean Monnet
Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet was a French political economist and diplomat. He is regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity and is regarded as one of its founding fathers...
's European Movement
European Movement
The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...
, heading the Yugoslav Committee for more than three decades. In 1967, Ivanović was appointed by the late Prince Rainier III to the post of Consul General of Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
in London. Three years later, his mother, Milica, died in Monaco. In 1977, he published his auto-biography entitled: LX, Memoirs of a Yugoslav. In 1982, the final memorandum of the "Democratic Alternative" argued that Yugoslavia could only survive as a democratic community of sovereign nations, and that any other scenario would almost inevitably lead to a civil war. Ivanović lived long enough to witness the awful fulfillment of this prophecy with the outbreak of the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
. He died in London on 4 April, 1999. His father liked to point out that Ivanović was the first Yugoslav in the family. Born on the eve of unification, he died as its last remnants collapsed.
In 1939 Ivanović married June Fisher with whom he had two sons, Božo and Andrija; and one daughter, Minja.