Jovanka Broz
| Jovanka Broz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First Lady of Yugoslavia | |
|
In office 14 January 1953 – 4 May 1980 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jovanka Budisavljević 7 December 1924 Pećane, Udbina municipality, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (today Croatia) |
| Died | 20 October 2013 (aged 88) Belgrade, Serbia |
| Nationality | Serb |
| Spouse(s) |
Josip Broz Tito (m.1952–80; his death) |
| Mother | Milica Budisavljević |
| Father | Milan Budisavljević |
| Awards |  National Order of Merit |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Yugoslavia |
| Service/branch |
Yugoslav Partisans Yugoslav People's Army |
| Years of service | 1941–52 |
| Rank | Lieutenant colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Jovanka Budisavljević Broz (née Budisavljević; Serbian Cyrillic: Јованка Будисављевић Броз, pronounced [jǒʋaːŋka budisǎːʋʎeʋid͡ʑ brôːz]; 7 December 1924 – 20 October 2013) was First Lady of Yugoslavia as the wife of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. She was a lieutenant colonel in the Yugoslav People's Army.
She was married to Tito from 1952 until his death in 1980. Following her husband's death, all of her property was seized and she moved to a state-owned villa, where she reportedly lived under virtual house arrest.
She was born on 7 December 1924 to an ethnic Serbian family of Mićo Budisavljević and Milica Svilar in Pećane, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. When she was almost 15 years old World War II broke out in 1939, her family was forced to flee the Ustasha regime that took power in the newly created Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia. Their house was eventually burned down by the Ustashas. She joined the Yugoslav Partisans when she was 17.
Former JNA General Marjan Kranjc says Jovanka was assigned to the Marshal as early as 1945 as part of the personnel that checked his food and overall cleanliness for the purpose of preventing disease. After the death of Tito's great love Davorjanka Paunović, whose grave is in the Royal Compound in Dedinje, 1946, Jovanka became his personal secretary according to Kranjc. "In this way she became a part of the inner most security ring around Tito and had to sign a secret cooperation agreement with the State Security Service (SDB), which was the law" - says Kranjc.
Milovan Đilas, one of the communist revolutionary movement's leading members and ideologues, and a subsequent dissident, provides more details about Jovanka during this period in Druženje s Titom (Friendship with Tito). According to him, the relationship with Tito was extremely difficult for her:
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