Nijaz Duraković

Nijaz Duraković (1 January 1949 – 29 January 2012) was a Bosnian author, intellectual, professor and politician. He is widely considered to have been one of the most influential modern authors on sociopolitical issues in the region of his generation.

Duraković was born in Stolac on New Year's Day 1949. He completed his primary and secondary education there, and then his BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees in sociology at the University of Sarajevo. He was the last leader of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina from June 1989 to December 1990 and the first president of the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1990 to 1997. He was the candidate in the Bosnia and Herzegovina first general election in 1990. In 1992 he became a member of the War Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Beyond politics, he was widely recognized as one of the country's most prolific authors. Duraković's body of work includes 16 books and more than 200 scientific journals and articles which he wrote during his tenure as Senior Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Sarajevo. His most prominent book is The Curse of Muslims (Prokletstvo Muslimana).

He died on 29 January 2012 in Sarajevo following a heart attack.