Aleksandar Ranković

Aleksandar Ranković Leka (nom de guerre Marko; Александар Ранковић Лека; 28 November 1909 – 19 August 1983) was a Serbian and Yugoslav communist politician, considered to be the third most powerful man in Yugoslavia after Josip Broz Tito and Edvard Kardelj.

Ranković was a proponent of a centralized Yugoslavia and opposed efforts that promoted decentralization that he deemed to be against the interests of the Serbian people; he ensured Serbs had a strong presence in Serbia's Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo's nomenklatura.

Ranković cautioned against separatist forces in Kosovo who were commonly suspected of pursuing seditious activities.

In 1927 he met his future wife Anđa, and a year later he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.

Soon he was named Secretary-General of the League of Communists of Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) in Belgrade.

After becoming a member of the then-illegal Communist Party in 1928, Ranković was named Secretary of the Communist Youth of Serbia.

Undeterred by the January 6th Dictatorship, the group continued producing political flyers to be distributed in Belgrade and Zemun.

During a police raid, one of the other activists was arrested and gave up the identities of the other members.

Ranković was put on trial before the National Court for the Protection of the State in May of 1929, and was ultimately sentenced to 6 years in prison.

During his incarceration in Sremska Mitrovica and Lepoglava, he remained active in promoting Marxism and Leninism to younger prisoners, and fought to improve the living conditions for political prisoners.

After his release from prison, he met Anđa Jovanović and the two were married shortly thereafter.

After completing his compulsory military service, the pair moved to Belgrade in January of 1937.

In October 1940, Ranković participated in the Fifth Land Conference of the KPJ held in Zagreb.

Ranković was a member of the Politburo from 1940.

At the beginning of the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia Ranković was secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia.

While working as a member of the League of Communists of Serbia during this time, he was promoted to secretary by Tito, a role which he held until 1941.

While living illegally in Belgrade, he began to go by the name "Marko", replacing his previous nickname, "Leka".

Ranković was first member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia who came to Belgrade after it was occupied in April 1941.

Ranković was ordered by Tito to investigate why members of the Serbian Communist Party left Belgrade and went to rural region of Serbia, and invited them to return to Belgrade.

The order was followed by all 250 communists from Belgrade, except Vasilije Buha.

Ranković was captured and tortured by the German Gestapo in 1941 but was later rescued in a daring raid by Yugoslav Partisans.

His wife and mother were killed by the Gestapo during the war.

Ranković served on the Supreme Staff throughout the war.

He was named a "People's Hero" for his services during World War II.

In May 1944, Ranković created OZNA, the Partisan's security agency.

After the war, he became minister of the interior and chief of the military intelligence agency UDBA, which had replaced OZNA.

A state of emergency that existed throughout Yugoslavia until 1948 was maintained in Kosovo till the middle of the 1960s.

Kosovo Albanians were singled out for harsher treatment as they had resisted the reinstatement of Yugoslav control after the end of the Second World War.

President Tito granted the security forces of Ranković the task to bring Albanians under control.

Ranković supported a centralised Soviet style system.

He was against the Albanian population gaining further autonomy in Kosovo and Ranković had misgivings and a strong dislike of Albanians.

The popularity of Ranković in Serbia became apparent at his funeral in 1983, which large numbers of people attended.

Many considered Ranković a Serbian "national" leader.

Ranković's policies have been perceived as the basis of the policies of Slobodan Milošević.

Ranković was born in the village of Draževac near Obrenovac in the Kingdom of Serbia.

Born into a poor family, Ranković lost his father at a young age.

He attended primary school in his hometown.

He went to Belgrade to work and joined the workers' movement.

He was also influenced by his colleagues who, at the time when the Communist Party was banned, brought communist magazines and literature with them, which were read by Ranković.

At age 15 he joined the union.