Fikret Hodžić

Who is Fikret Hodžić?

Fikret Hodžić was a professional bodybuilder from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hodžić competed during the 1970s and 1980s representing the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Hodžić was murdered near his home by Serbian paramilitaries during the early days of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His remains were found in a mass grave in January 2009 and were properly buried on 20 July 2009, a full 17 years after his murder.

Hodžić began bodybuilding in 1973. He was inspired by Franco Columbu. He briefly had to stop training while completing mandatory military service. Hodžić was the bodybuilding champion of Yugoslavia for 15 consecutive years spanning 1976-1991. He was an advocate of training outdoors when weather permitted it.

During the war he was killed in the conentraton camp Trnopolje in Bosnia, his wife and two children sought refuge in Austria. After hearing of Hodžić's murder Arnold Schwarzenegger sent his condolences to the family. Fikret Hodžić's 20 year old son Džemal was murdered in Sanski Most in 2000 by a local criminal.