Mika Špiljak

Mika Špiljak (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [mîka ʃpîʎak] or [-ʃpîʎaːk]; 28 November 1916 – 18 May 2007) was a Croatian politician in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

He was born in Odra Sisačka (part of Sisak), in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (present-day Croatia). His father Dragutin was a railway worker. Špiljak began working at the age of 16. He joined the Communist Party in 1938 and fought with Partisans during World War II.

From 1945 to 1949, he was the mayor of Zagreb.

In 1963, Špiljak was appointed the Chairman of the Executive Council of Croatia and served until his 1967 appointment as the President of the Federal Executive Council, Yugoslavia's Prime Minister. He served in that capacity until 1969.

Špiljak then served as Chairman of the Collective Presidency of Yugoslavia from 1983 until 1984. He was subsequently appointed as the Secretary of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia from 1984 until 1986.

He died in 2007 at the age of 90.He was cremated in Zagreb.

In the 2000s (decade), German courts linked Špiljak to the assassination of Croatian emigrant Stjepan Đureković in 1983.