Nikola Pašić

Nikola Pašić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Пашић, pronounced [nǐkola pǎʃitɕ]; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat. During his political career, which spanned almost five decades, he served five times as prime minister of Serbia and three times as prime minister of Yugoslavia, leading 22 governments in total. He played an instrumental role in the founding of Yugoslavia and is considered one of the most influential figures in Serbian twentieth-century history. With 12 years in office, Pašić was the longest-serving prime minister of Serbia.

Born in Zaječar, in eastern Serbia, Pašić studied engineering in Switzerland and embraced radical politics as a student at the Polytechnical School in Zürich. On his return to Serbia, he was elected to the National Assembly in 1878 as a member of the People's Radical Party, which was formally organised three years later. After the failed Timok Rebellion against the government of King Milan I, he was sentenced to death but narrowly avoided capture and execution. He spent the next six years exiled in Bulgaria. Following Milan's abdication in 1889, Pašić returned to Serbia and was elected president of the National Assembly. A year later he also became mayor of Belgrade. In 1891, Pašić became prime minister for the first time, but was forced to resign the following year.