Andrija Hebrang

Andrija Hebrang (; born 27 January 1946) is a Croatian physician and politician. He is a former member of the Parliament of Croatia. 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 2009–10 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 the piano and to speak French and German. Hebrang's father joined the Communist Party and fought for the Partisans in World War II, becoming a close friend and adviser to Marshal Josip Broz Tito, and eventually rose to become a high-ranking government member. However, in the late 1940s, he fell out of favor with senior Party members, was arrested by the Yugoslav government for treason, 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. Ustashas killed 16 members of the Hebrang family during the Holocaust, and another ten members of his family were killed by the communist regime of the newly founded FPR 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" so that Olga could find employment.

Personal life Hebrang is Jewish. He is married to Danijela Vrhovski, and they have three children together.

Awards Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir (1995)