President Milanović on Miko Tripalo: He was one of the greats of the Croatian spirit and heart, an aristocrat of thought
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović attended the scientific conference “Kakva Hrvatska? Miko Tripalo (1926.-1995.)” [What kind of Croatia? Miko Tripalo (1926-1995)], which was organized by the Centre for Democracy and Law Miko Tripalo, under the auspices of the President of the Republic.
After a welcome address by the President of the Management Board of the Miko Tripalo Centre Tvrtko Jakovina and introductory remarks by Slaven Ravlić, President Milanović recalled in his speech the connection his family has with Miko Tripalo and the words he heard about him. “Later, I heard only positive things about Tripalo, things that perhaps only this man has in politics, a man of such calibre, such scope. Miko Tripalo enjoyed respect, something we all long for and crave as human beings,” said the President of the Republic.
Speaking about life in the last century in the vicinity of Sinj and the Dalmatian Hinterland, where Miko Tripalo was raised, President Milanović said: “We like to idealize and look at our past through a special lens. However, our past, the past of our lands was already formed at that time. Growing up and being shaped through several generations in an environment like Sinj, in a family such as the Tripalo family, you live politics, you go through developmental stages, first as a member of the People’s Party, then in fact as a democrat. Miko Tripalo has roots there as a young leftist, a member of the Yugoslav League of Communist Youth, a Partisan and later as one of those aristocrats with the Croatian people’s spirit, an aristocracy that has nothing to do with money and origins.”
The President emphasized that Croatia was happy to have had people like Miko Tripalo in its leadership in the last century as he was “one of the greats of the Croatian spirit and heart, an aristocrat of thought, a man quite immune to material things who always worked on himself,” President Milanović concluded.
The aim of the conference was to cover in more detail the situation in Dalmatia and Sinj before World War II, at the time of Tripalo’s childhood, his participation in the national liberation struggle (NOB), the time when he was president of the People’s Youth of Yugoslavia, and then the political zenith of his career in Zagreb in the 1960s and the Croatian Spring. There was also a special presentation on dissent and the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the first years of multi-party politics, when Tripalo was a member of parliament and an important figure in the political life.
In addition to President Milanović, the President’s Adviser for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić also attended the conference.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan