Belgrade, August 28, 2013

Jovanka Budisavljevic Broz, former First Lady of Yugoslavia and the widow of the Yugoslav communist President, Josip Broz Tito, passed away at the age of 89. Her death was announced in the Clinical Center of Serbia.

According to doctors, the cause of her death is carcinoma. Her state of health deteriorated when she was admitted in hospital on Friday half conscious.

Doctors say that the widow of the former Yugoslav communist president, Josip Broz Tito has been admitted to hospital several times, but her true condition has never been reported.

They said that the 89 year old Jovanka Broz was sent for the last time to the hospital of Belgrade on Friday, but no details were given for her condition.

The director of the ER, Zlatibor Loncar said that Jovanka Broz was visited before her death by the Serb Prime Minister Ivica Dacic late in the afternoon.

Jovanka Broz was born in the region of Lika in the village of Pecani, Croatia in 1924 in a Serb ethnic family. She was married to Tito in 1952 and lived together until his death in 1980. Upon the death of her husband, all the assets were nationalized and she was put under house arrest for a long time.

She married Tito in 1952 and lived with him until he died in 1980.

She was forced to leave the luxury home in Belgrade, as she was considered to be an agent of Russian secret services. Reports during that time said that she had ambitions to take over the leadership of the country after the death of her husband, Josip Broz Tito.

The first wife of Tito was a Russian called Pelagija (Polga) Belousova. She married Tito when she was only 14 and had 5 children with him. Tito and Pelagija divorced in 1936. Two months later, he married to a young Austrian communist girl, Lucia Bauer.

His third wife was a Slovenian-German ethnic student, Hertha Haas and had a boy with him, Aleksandar (Misha) in 1941.

After he divorced with Hertha, Tito quickly married to a Serb woman, Davorjanka (Zdenka) Paunovic. Davorjanka who died from tuberculosis in 1946, was the greatest love of Tito

Jovanka’s life with Tito

Jovanka was 28 years of age when she married to the 60 year old Marshal Tito in the spring of 1952. Nonetheless, the news of the wedding was given in 1952, when the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden visited Yugoslavia.

During this visit, the bride made her first appearance and she was really stunning.

A week ago, “Life” magazine wrote: “During the reception, Marshal Tito presented for the first time his new wife Jovanka. She was tall and beautiful. She amazed women critics of the embassy, such as the guest of honor of the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden”.

In the ‘70s, she was accused for espionage on behalf of the Soviets and that she has participated in a plot by revealing state secrets and for organizing a coup d’etat, etc. All these accusations led to the unofficial “divorce” of the couple. The last public appearance together was in 1977 in a reception for the Prime Minister of Norway.

Until the death of Tito in 1980, Jovanka lived in isolation and was not able to see her husband.

Immediately after Tito’s funeral, Jovanka Broz was forced to leave the home where she lived separately with her husband and was put under house arrest.

All her personal belongings and the documents were confiscated and since then, Jovanka has lived on her own, without a pension and without an identity card until 2009 when she was issued with a passport.

From the marriage with Josip Broz, Jovanka didn’t have any children.