Jovanka Broz

Jovanka Broz

Jovanka Budisavljević Broz (Serbian Cyrillic: Јованка Будисављевић Броз) (born 7 December 1924) is the former First Lady of Yugoslavia and the widow of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. They were married from 1952 until his death in 1980. Following her husband's death, all of her property was nationalized and she was placed under house arrest for a time.

As an immediate witness and insider of the entire turbulent epoch in the history of the Balkans, she is still the subject of immense regional media interest. However, she has maintained an extremely low-key existence since 1980 and rarely gives interviews. She now lives in Belgrade, Serbia. She was reported to be living in relative poverty as of 2006, after a government inquiry found that her house in Dedinje, a suburb (next to the Royal Palace) of Belgrade, had received no maintenance since her arrest. Efforts are now being made to improve her living conditions.

Jovanka Broz (née Budisavljević) is of Serbian ethnicity. She held the rank of major in the Yugoslav People's Army.