Vlatko Pavletić

Who was Vlatko Pavletić?

Vlatko Pavletić was a Croatian politician, university professor, literature critic and essayist.

Pavletić was born in Zagreb in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1955, he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, where he majored in Croatian language and literature. In 1972 he was imprisoned for a year and a half by the communist Yugoslav government as a Croatian nationalist for "attempting to destroy and change the state organization". He earned a doctorate in 1975.

Between 1990 and 1992 Pavletić served as Minister of Education, Culture, Technology and Sports under Prime Ministers Stjepan Mesić, Josip Manolić and Franjo Gregurić. In 1992, he was elected to the Croatian parliament and was appointed Speaker of the Parliament on 28 November 1995. He held the post until 2000.

When President Franjo Tuđman was declared incapacitated on 26 November 1999, he automatically became Acting President of Croatia. He held this office from Tuđman's death on 10 December 1999 until the Croatian parliament elected Zlatko Tomčić as the new Speaker on 2 February 2000.

In 2004, Pavletić retired from politics. He died in Zagreb from pancreatic cancer on 19 September 2007.