Faris Nanić, Board member, Alija Izetbegović Foundation at the exhibition. (CreditL Alija Izetbegović Fdn)

Hamed Chapman

An exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Alija Izetbegović has been opened in Sarajevo following a ceremony to commemorate the 17th death anniversary of the first President of an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Alija Izetbegović was a courageous leader in the fateful moments of the struggle for the survival of the Bosniak people and Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country,” said Nađa Berberović-Dizdarević, manager of the Alija Izetbegović Museum, where the exhibition is held.

“His struggle was consistently honourable and dignified, and throughout his life, he was guided by the principles of democracy, justice and tolerance,” she said at the opening.

Bosnia’s first President was renowned not solely as a politician but as a thinker and intellectual, lawyer and altruist as well as Supreme Commander of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina with his life marked by the struggle to return self-respect and dignity to his people.

His wisdom, strength and integrity played a crucial role in the survival of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Though mostly known for securing his country’s independence, he is also considered as one of the most important Muslim thinkers of 20th century Europe.

His daughter Sabina Izetbegović-Berberović also said the remembrance event, held annually since his death in October 2003, was important not only as a commemoration but “more importantly, as a reminder of the universal values he stood for.”

Speaking at the ceremony, Faris Nanić, a member of the Alija Izetbegović Foundation Board, referred to his awareness that “freedom is a precondition to human dignity and developments were crucial not only to their public efforts but also to their influence on other actors of the democratic transition.”

Professor Sanjin Kodrić, President of the Bosniak Cultural Community ‘Preporod’, said that the late President “placed emphasis precisely on culture” and that it was this which “affirmed him as an outstanding intellectual, as well as a statesman who thoroughly understood states and societies and culture as their foundation.”