Vinko Nikolić

Vinko Nikolić
Vinko Nikolić holding a speech on a grave of Ante Starčević
Born	(1912-03-02)2 March 1912 Šibenik, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary
Died	12 July 1997(1997-07-12) (aged 85) Šibenik, Croatia
Occupation	Writer, poet, journalist
Language	Croatian
Nationality	Croat
Alma mater	University of Zagreb
Genre	Poetry
Notable awards	Order of Duke Trpimir

Vinko Nikolić (2 March 1912 – 12 July 1997) was the adjutant to Croatian fascist dictator Ante Pavelić, who led the Ustaše movement and Independent State of Croatia (NDH), affiliated with both Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany that was established in parts of occupied Yugoslavia during World War II, and which pursued genocidal policies against ethnic and racial minorities such as Serbs, Jews, and Romani. A war criminal, he escaped to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he lived until returning to Croatia, several years before his death. He was a writer, poet and journalist in civilian life.

Vinko Nikolić was born in Šibenik in 1912. He attended elementary school and Catholic gymnasium in his birth town. He joined the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb and graduated in 1937. As a professor at the Commercial Academy he saw political changes in Yugoslavia in 1939, the most significant of which was the creation of Banovina Croatia. For much of World War II he was an adjutant at Supreme Ustaša Headquarters. Supreme Ustaša Headquarters directed the operation of the Independent State of Croatia.

At the end of World War II he retreated to Austria with the rest of the Ustaša army and civilians. During his stay in Austria he gained status as a prisoner of war, and left for another camp in Italy. During his transfer to the other camp, he jumped out of a train. To avoid extradition to Yugoslavia, Nikolić went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, arriving there on 8 June 1947. At first he lived in an old house with Ante Pavelić. They did not have much money and lived very cheaply. He worked as a journalist, and along with Franjo Nevistić, he published the magazine Hrvatska which he edited until June 1950. In the same year, along with Antun Bonifačić, he published the Croatian emigrant magazine Hrvatska revija, which he edited from the first published issue of magazine in 1951 until his death.