Janko Vranyczany-Dobrinović

Who is Janko Vranyczany-Dobrinović?

Janko Vranyczany-Dobrinović is a former Croatian politician and diplomat. Vranyczany-Dobrinović is of noble descent from Austro-Hungarian times. As such, his name is sometimes prefixed with the titles of either grof or barun.

During World War II, Vranyczany-Dobrinović entered the Army of the Independent State of Croatia and was sent to Stockerau. He attained the rank of a warrant officer and was part of the Lorković-Vokić coup. After the war he was taken by Yugoslav Partisans to a prison camp in Osijek. With the help of pre-war friends in the Communist Youth, he was able to leave the camp and escaped the country for Italy. He then moved to Austria. When the communists came to power in Yugoslavia, the Vranyczany-Dobrinović's property was nationalized.

With democratic changes happening in the republics of Yugoslavia, Vranyczany-Dobrinović was able to return to Croatia after nearly 45 years abroad. He joined the Croatian Democratic Union. He served as minister of tourism from 1990 to 1992 in Croatia's first democratically elected government. From 1992 he served as the head of Croatia's permanent mission to the European Union in Brussels.