Mate Boban

Mate Boban (; 12 February 1940 – 7 July 1997) was a Bosnian Croat politician and one of the founders of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. He was the first president of Herzeg-Bosnia from 1991 until 1994. From 1992 to 1994, Boban was the President of the Croatian Democratic Union. He died in 1997 due to a stroke.

Pre-war life Boban was born on 12 February 1940 in a large family in Sovići in the Municipality of Grude in Herzegovina, to Stjepan and Iva Boban. He finished elementary school in Sovići and later he attended seminary in Zadar. After second grade he moved to a high school in Široki Brijeg, and eventually graduated in Vinkovci. In 1958, Boban joined the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. He attended the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb where he obtained an M.A. degree in Economics. After a shorter stay in Grude, he was employed in Imotski where he became the director of the Napredak trading company.

On charges of business fraud, Boban spent two and a half years in a remand prison in Split. He later called it a show trial and said that the reason for his imprisonment was Croatian nationalism. In the late 1980s, he was the head of the Tobacco Factory Zagreb branch in Herzegovina. In 1990, he joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ BiH) and was elected to the parliament in the 1990 general election. In March 1991, Boban became the vice president of the HDZ BiH.

Last years After the Washington accords ended the existence of Herzeg-Bosnia, Boban went into retirement. On 4 July 1997 he suffered a stroke and died three days later at a hospital in Mostar.

Streets named for Mate Boban

Ulica Mate Bobana, Grude, 88340 Ulica Mate Bobana, Čapljina Ulica Mate Bobana, Kupres (not completed yet)

Honours