Josip Broz Tito: Encyclopedia II - Josip Broz Tito - Family

Josip Broz Tito - Family

Tito's first wife was Pelagija Broz who bore him a son, Žarko. His second wife was Hertha Haas, a Slovene of German ethnicity, who in May of 1941 bore him a son Mišo, although his most known wife was the last one, Jovanka Broz. His notable grandchildren include Aleksandra Broz, a prominent theatre director in Croatia, and Svetlana Broz, a cardiologist and writer in Bosnia.

Tito was most likely born on the May 7, but celebrated his birthday on May 25, after he became president of Yugoslavia, to mark the occasion of an unsuccessful attempt at his life by the Nazis in 1944. Nazis found forged documents of Tito, where May 25 was stated as his birthday. They attacked Tito on the day they believed was his birthday.

May 25 was institutionalized as the Day of Youth in former Yugoslavia. The Relay of Youth started about two months earlier, each time from a different town of Yugoslavia. The baton passed through hundreds of hands of relay runners and typically visited all major cities of the country. On May 25 of each year, the baton finally passed into the hands of Marshall Tito at the end of festivities at the FK Partizan stadium in Belgrade.(http://www.titoville.com/images/tito-in-stafeta.jpg)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Family", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki