Jovanka Broz

First Lady of Yugoslavia (1924–2013)

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Lived 1924–2013, aged 89

Wikipedia
28 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1924–2013
Aged 89
Known for
Flame of Persia
1971

Summary

Updated 2026-06-12

Josip Broz Tito's wife who went from wartime Partisan to First Lady to three decades of near-total isolation — stripped of documents, pension, and contact with the outside world after their 1977 separation.

Biography

About

Born in Lika in 1924, Jovanka Budisavljević joined the anti-fascist resistance in 1941 and fought through World War II, wounded twice and decorated with the Order of Bravery. In 1945 she became Tito's personal secretary; they married in 1952, making her First Lady of Yugoslavia. For two decades she moved through diplomatic receptions and state visits, until accusations of political meddling in the 1970s turned Tito's inner circle against her. They separated in 1977. After his death in 1980 she vanished into her Belgrade villa under what amounted to house arrest — no papers, no pension, no visi…

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