Mate Boban was the first president of Herzeg-Bosnia from 1991 until 1994.
15 Facts About Mate Boban
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From 1992 to 1994, Mate Boban was the President of the Croatian Democratic Union.
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Mate Boban was born on 12 February 1940 in a large family in Sovici in the Municipality of Grude in Herzegovina, to Stjepan and Iva Mate Boban.
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Mate Boban finished elementary school in Sovici and later he attended seminary in Zadar.
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In 1958, Mate Boban joined the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.
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On charges of business fraud, Mate Boban spent two and a half years in a remand prison in Split.
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Mate Boban later called it a show trial and said that the reason for his imprisonment was Croatian nationalism.
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In March 1991, Mate Boban became the vice president of the HDZ BiH.
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On 12 November 1991, Mate Boban chaired a meeting with local party leaders of the HDZ BiH, together with Dario Kordic.
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One of Mate Boban's advisers stated that Herzeg-Bosnia was only a temporary measure and that the entire area will be an integral part of Bosnia and Herzegovina when the war ends.
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Mate Boban met with Radovan Karadzic, president of Republika Srpska, on 6 May 1992 in Graz, Austria where they reached an agreement for a ceasefire.
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In September 1992, Mate Boban said that "We want an independent Bosnia and Herzegovina, a joint state of three nations in which, like others, Croats will be sovereign".
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In February 1994, Mate Boban resigned as president of Herzeg-Bosnia and was replaced by Kresimir Zubak.
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Under pressure from the international circles, Mate Boban announced his withdrawal from politics.
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In May 2013, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in a first-instance verdict against Jadranko Prlic, found that Mate Boban took part in the joint criminal enterprise against the non-Croat population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.