ADIL ZULFIKARPAŠIĆ

BIOGRAPHY

The founder of the Bosniak Institute, Adil Zulfikarpašić, was born on 23rd of December 1921, in Foča, as a descendant of the old Bosnian noble family of the Čengić beys. Although he spent much of his life in exile, the biography and entire work of this prominent Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Bosniak intellectual and politician are closely tied to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Even as a high school student, showing a readiness to fight for social justice and equality, he became socially engaged and joined the communist youth. Soon after, he became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, where he was an active member, despite often coming into conflict with it. His antifascist struggle and activities during World War II were marked by his arrest by the Ustaše in 1942 in Sarajevo.

His unwavering commitment to his ethical and ideological principles was demonstrated in his role as assistant minister of trade in the first government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when he realized the impossibility of establishing social justice due to the increasing materialistic desires of the leading communist layer. Deciding to leave such a social environment, Adil Zulfikarpašić moved to Trieste in 1946, marking the beginning of his period of emigration and dissidence. He studied political science in Innsbruck and Graz, and in 1954 he moved to Switzerland, where he became an influential representative of the Bosniak diaspora. His rich socially engaged and political life in Switzerland was reflected, among other things, in joining the Liberal International and working on the creation of the Bosniak Democratic Organization, maintaining close ties with the newly formed Bosniak democratic emigration circle in Vienna. In 1960, he launched the political-cultural monthly Bosanski pogledi (Bosnian Views) in Vienna, which was published until 1967, gathering Muslim émigrés from around the world, who, under the influence of various national and political currents in exile, were increasingly at risk of losing their cultural and national identity. In 1964, together with the democratically oriented Bosniaks gathered around Bosanski pogledi, he began the foundation of the Liberal Union of Bosniaks.

Establishing himself as a successful and respected businessman from the mid-60s to the mid-70s, Adil Zulfikarpašić fully dedicated himself to political and cultural work for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1980s, developing the idea of founding a cultural institution to study the history of Bosnia and promote its culture.

In June 1988, he founded the "Bosniaken Institut – Stiftung Adil Zulfikarpasic" in Zurich, with the status of a foundation. Realizing his long-held desire, the Bosniak Institute was relocated from Zurich to Sarajevo in 2000, where he founded the "Bošnjački institut – Fondacija Adila Zulfikarpašića", which houses all the funds and collections and began operations in 2001 as a full-fledged library, cultural, and scientific institution.

Adil Zulfikarpašić, a philanthropist, cultural patron, benefactor, and prominent advocate for the improvement of the cultural and educational life of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina in general, received numerous honors during his life. Some of the most significant include the Honorary PhD in Law from the Law University of Bihać in 2007, the Charter of Honorary Member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2003 and the Sixth of APril Award from the City of Sarajevo in 2002.