Honorary citizen of Belgrade is a title awarded by the leadership of Belgrade on behalf of the city.

Requirements The title can be awarded to both a citizen of Serbia and any other state, as a politician or statesman, as well as a representative of a non-governmental organization or an artist. A candidate for honorary citizenship of Belgrade must have a contribution to the development of science, art, humanitarian activities, etc., which has helped the development and image of Belgrade, the development of democracy in Serbia and the world. The decision to award the title is made by the City Assembly (Parliament). Candidates are nominated by the City Council or at least 10 councilors.

A person who has received the title of honorary citizen of Belgrade is presented with an official letter on official paper at an official meeting of the Assembly. A citizen of Serbia receives it on City Day, and a representative of another country receives it during their visit to Belgrade.

History

The first to receive this title was General Peko Dapčević on 19 October 1945, who led the liberation of Belgrade in the autumn of 1944. On Yugoslav Youth Day in 1947, the title were given to the head of the Yugoslav Communist Party, Josip Broz Tito, Fyodor Tolbukhin, marshal of the Soviet Union, and Vladimir Zhdanov, general of the Soviet army.

On 19 July 1954 (the year when the title was officially established), for the first time, the leader of a foreign state, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, became an honorary citizen of Belgrade. Of the foreign leaders after him, the title was awarded to Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Norodom Sihanouk, Leonid Brezhnev and others. Despite the warm relations of Josip Broz Tito with a number of leaders of Western European countries, only Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, became an honorary citizen of Belgrade during his life (and currently the only woman to be assigned this title). Till 1985, honorary citizens of Belgrade were high foreign officials, who were visiting SFR Yugoslavia. After 1985, the title was not awarded for more than 21 years. The title was reintroduced in 2006. Until 2006, an honorary Belgrade citizen could only become someone who was a senior foreign politician, statesman or military leader. Nelson Mandela received it in 2007.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Bill Gates and Michael Schumacher were nominated as candidates for honorary citizens of Belgrade . Serbian historian Aleksandar Životić explained this by the breakdown of the socialist bloc and globalization, in an era in which society chooses new heroes.

In 2015, Nikita Mikhalkov and Peter Handke are the first artists to become honorary citizens of the Serbian capital.

List of honorary citizens The list includes people who have been awarded the title of honorary citizen of Belgrade.

NamePortraitDateNotesCountry1Petar Dapčević(1913—1999)20 October 1945Lieutenant general of JNA and Order of the People's Hero2Josip Broz Tito(1892—1980)25 May 1947President of Yugoslavia, Marshal of Yugoslavia and President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia3Fyodor Tolbukhin(1894—1949)Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria and Order of the People's Hero4Vladimir Zhdanov(1902—1964)Colonel general of tank troops in the Soviet Armed Forces5Haile Selassie I(1892—1975)22 July 1954Emperor of Ethiopia6Jawaharlal Nehru(1889—1964)24 June 1955Prime Minister of India7Gamal Abdel Nasser(1918—1970)23 July 1956President of Egypt8Norodom Sihanouk(1922—2012)20 September 1959King of Cambodia9Leonid Brezhnev(1906—1982)20 September 1962Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)10Ahmed Ben Bella(1918—2012)6 March 1964President of Algeria11Habib Bourguiba(1903—2000)31 March 1965President of the Republic of Tunisia12Lal Bahadur Shastri(1904—1966)18 July 1965Prime Minister of India13Edvard Kardelj(1910—1979)24 January 1970federal political leader of SFR Yugoslavia and Order of the People's Hero14Kenneth Kaunda(1924—2021)6 May 1970President of Zambia15Elizabeth II(1952—2022)17 October 1972Queen of the United Kingdom16Edward Gierek(1913—2001)8 May 1973President of the Polish United Workers' Party17Nicolae Ceaușescu(1918—1989)19 September 1976President of Romania и General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party18Hua Guofeng(1921—2008)22 August 1978Premier of China and Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party19Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah(1926—2006)17 September 1981Emir and thirteenth Sheikh of Kuwait20François Mitterrand(1916—1996)16 December 1983President of France21Kim Il Sung(1912—1994)19 June 1984President of North Korea22Li Xiannian(1909—1992)4 September 1984President of China23Miguel de la Madrid(1934—2012)26 January 1985President of Mexico24Julius Nyerere(1922—1999)15 March 1985President of Tanzania25Nelson Mandela(1918—2013)15 May 2007President of South Africa26Miguel Ángel Moratinos(1951—)6 October 2009Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs27Tadashi Nagai(1943—)7 June 2010 Japanese Ambassador to Serbia28Li Keqiang(1955—2023)18 December 2014Premier of China29Nikita Mikhalkov(1945—)17 April 2015Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union30Peter Handke(1942—)21 May 2015Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, screenwriter, Nobel Prize winner31Thorvald Stoltenberg(1931—2018)1 October 2015Norwegian politician32Arne Sannes Bjørnstad(1965—)6 December 2016Norwegian ambassador for Serbia

See also List of people from Belgrade List of honorary citizens of Niš List of honorary citizens of Novi Sad List of honorary citizens of Zrenjanin

References