David Daka Popović

David "Daka" Popović (Serbian Cyrillic: Давид "Дака" Поповић; 28 December 1886 – 17 February 1967) was a Serbian engineer, army officer, architect, journalist, historian, and a politician who served as the first Ban of Danube Banovina, Minister of Land Reform and a senator of .

Biography

Early life and education Daka Popović was born on 28 December 1886 in Novi Sad where he earned his primary education. He went to a high school in Szeged and he graduated in 1913 from Royal Joseph Polytechnic, today known as Budapest University of Technology and Economics. During his studies in Budapest he worked as an illustrator for Engineering Papers magazine and engaged in athletics. He began practicing engineering in Pest after he graduated.

Political career Popović begun his political career in 1927 when he joined People's Radical Party, in the same year he was elected to a Local Assembly of Bačka Oblast. He became the first Ban (governor) of Danube Banovina on 3 October 1929 but he resigned already on 16 January 1930 because of his disagreements with the central government. On 3 January 1932, he was appointed to be a Senator in . He served two terms as a senator, his second term ended on 12 November 1932.

Journalist career On 28 May 1936, Daka Popović co-founded daily newspaper called Dan, which became the most popular newspaper in Vojvodina. He resigned as one of the owners of the newspapers in 1938, but he continued to write about political and historical questions in Dan until it was abolished when the German occupation in World War II begun.