Andrija Hebrang (son)

Andrija Hebrang
Andrija Hebrang (fourth from the left)
Minister of Health and Social Welfare
In office 23 December 2003 – 25 February 2005
Prime Minister	Ivo Sanader
Preceded by	Andro Vlahušić
Succeeded by	Neven Ljubičić
6th Minister of Defence of Croatia
In office 14 May 1998 – 12 October 1998
Prime Minister	Zlatko Mateša
Preceded by	Gojko Šušak
Succeeded by	Pavao Miljavac
Minister of Health
In office 12 October 1993 – 14 May 1998
Prime Minister	Nikica Valentić (1993–1995) Zlatko Mateša (1995–1998)
Preceded by	Juraj Njavro
Succeeded by	Željko Reiner
In office 30 May 1990 – 12 August 1992
Prime Minister	Stjepan Mesić (1990) Josip Manolić (1990–1991) Franjo Gregurić (1991–1992)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Juraj Njavro
Personal details
Born	(1946-01-27) 27 January 1946 Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croat
Political party	Croatian Democratic Union, Croatian True Revival (2000-2001)
Residence	Zagreb
Alma mater	University of Zagreb (School of Medicine)
Occupation	physician
Religion	Roman Catholic

Andrija Hebrang (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈandrija ˈxebraŋk]; born 27 January 1946) is a Croatian physician and politician. A member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), he is currently member of the Croatian Parliament. A physician by vocation, Hebrang had served three terms as Croatia's Minister of Health (1990–1992, 1993–1998 and 2003–2005) and spent three months as Minister of Defence (May–October 1998) under six different Prime Ministers. In addition, he was his party's candidate in the 2009–2010 Croatian presidential election, eventually finishing third behind Ivo Josipović and Milan Bandić, winning 12 percent of the vote in the first round.

Early life

Andrija Hebrang was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), to Andrija Hebrang, a prominent Croatian-Yugoslav politician and Olga Strauss, who came from a well-to-do Pakrac Jewish family. Her parents saw to her education, and she learned to play piano, and to speak French and German. Hebrang father joined the Communist party and fought for the Partisans in World War II, becoming a close friend and adviser to Marshall Josip Broz Tito, eventually becoming a high ranking government member. However, in the late 1940s he fell out of favor with senior Party members, was arrested for treason by the Yugoslav government, and subsequently disappeared. The date of his death and the circumstances are unknown, though it is presumed he died ca. 1949 in a Belgrade prison; the circumstances remain unclear and his body was never recovered. Ustaše killed 16 members of Hebrang family during the Holocaust and another 10 members of his family have been killed by the communist regime of newly founded SFR Yugoslavia.

Young Andrija, along with his mother and siblings were put under house arrest in 1948. His mother Olga was imprisoned for twelve years and the children were sent to live with their aunt Ilona in Zagreb. They lived very poorly, as Ilona's husband was sent to the prison camp at Goli Otok for several years and she was made to raise the three young children alone. Andrija saw his mother again when he was eleven and she was released from prison in 1960. The family was forced to change their surname to "Markovac" in order for Olga to find employment.

After finishing gymnasium, Hebrang enrolled at the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb where he received his doctorate specializing in radiology and oncology, and began teaching at the university as a professor in 1985. He is married to Danijela Vrhovski-Hebrang, a doctor of medical biochemistry at the University of Zagreb, and they have three children.

Political career

In 1990, he became a member of the newly formed Croatian Democratic Union. He became the Minister of Health from 1990–1992 and again from 1993-1998. During the Croatian War of Independence he served as a coordinator of the armed forces from 1993-1994. He was first elected to the Croatian parliament in 1993 and again in 1995.

After the death of the Minister of Defense Gojko Šušak in 1998, he temporarily took over the position for four months. Afterwards, he pulled himself out of political life. He returned in 2001 as a member of the Croatian True Revival party led by Miroslav Tuđman, but after talks with the new head of the HDZ Ivo Sanader, he returned to the Croatian Democratic Union. After the HDZ's victory in the Croatian parliamentary elections of 2003, he joined Sanader's government as one of the two vice-presidents and the Minister of Health and Social Welfare from 2003-2005. Due to health reasons, he gave up his positions in government and returned to being a member of the parliament.

Presidential run

In July 2009, he was chosen by the HDZ to be their candidate for the 2009–2010 presidential election. He competed in the first round with eleven other candidates and won the third place with 12.04% of the vote.

In April 2010 Hebrang announced his decision to retire from politics, motivated chiefly by disappointment over his poor showing in the presidential election.

Awards

• Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir (1995)

External links

• Croatian Parliament's profile of Hebrang (Croatian)
• Profile at HDZ page (Croatian)
• Profile at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (Croatian)

Political offices
Preceded by Office created	Minister of Health 1990–1992	Succeeded by Juraj Njavro
Preceded by Juraj Njavro	Minister of Health 1993–1998	Succeeded by Željko Reiner
Preceded by Gojko Šušak	Minister of Defence 1998	Succeeded by Pavao Miljavac
Preceded by Andro Vlahušić	00Minister of Health and Social Welfare00 2003–2005	Succeeded by Neven Ljubičić