32 Facts About Mehmed Spaho

Mehmed Spaho was a Bosnian politician and leader of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization.

Mehmed Spaho was the first Bosnian Muslim politician in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Mehmed Spaho died under mysterious circumstances in a Belgrade hotel.

Mehmed Spaho was born in Sarajevo, at the time part of Austria-Hungary, into a coppersmith family.

Mehmed Spaho's father Hasan was an expert of the Sharia law, and before the Austrian-Hungarian occupation, he was a judge in the Ottoman cities of Jajce, Sofia, Damascus and Cairo.

Mehmed Spaho had three sisters, Behija, Aisa and Habiba, and two brothers, Fehim, a prominent imam, and Mustafa.

Mehmed Spaho attended elementary school in Sarajevo, where he was a good student.

In Vienna, Mehmed Spaho was a member of an organization called "Zvijezda", an organization that gathered Muslim students.

When he returned from Vienna in 1906, Mehmed Spaho worked as a court clerk until 1908.

In 1914, Mehmed Spaho was elected to the Sarajevo City Council, after his political associate and friend, Esad Kulovic, stepped down.

Mehmed Spaho asked von Feuchtenegg to approve more potatoes for planting to be sent in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mehmed Spaho ended his request by praising the soldiers from Bosnia and Herzegovina who fought "heroically, on all fronts".

Mehmed Spaho complained to Tisza about Austrian-Hungarian treatment of Bosnian Muslims during the war, as they recruited, he claimed, elderly and the children and he complained about the procedure conducted in the requisition.

Mehmed Spaho stated that the differences between the religious groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina had faded during the war, and claimed that the majority of population supports the unification within Yugoslavia.

Three years later, Mehmed Spaho complained to the Parliament in Belgrade that he was bypassed when this Memorandum was signed, even though he supported the same idea.

On 13 October 1918, Mehmed Spaho called the session of Bosnian Muslim intellectuals to discuss their support for the Yugoslav state, but instead of a session, a group of Muslim intellectuals, among which was Mehmed Spaho, stated that they will not make any announcements without the approval of the National Assembly of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.

Mehmed Spaho was one of the two Bosnian Muslims to be a member.

On 3 November 1918, when the first National Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina was formed, Mehmed Spaho was named Commissioner for Trade, Post and Telegraph.

Some ministers in the National Government demanded that the help must be offered to all victims Mehmed Spaho insisted that the victims that were victims of violence after 1 November 1918 must be prioritized, mainly Bosnian Muslims in East Bosnia.

Mehmed Spaho entered the Government as a representative of the Muslim religious group, and stayed in it until 23 February 1919, when he resigned.

At its foundation, Mehmed Spaho was not a member of the JMO, but he was a member of the Vrijeme political group, although not among its key persons.

Mehmed Spaho was very active in the PMO and spoke out about the inequality when it comes to Bosnian Muslims.

In 1920, Mehmed Spaho was involved in a political campaign before the election of the Constituent Assembly.

The election was held on 28 November 1920, and Mehmed Spaho entered the Assembly.

On 26 March 1921, Mehmed Spaho entered the Pasic's Government as Minister of Trade and Industry.

Mehmed Spaho's election was seen as the party's turn towards left and basing on the autonomist policy.

Mehmed Spaho arrived by car to the "Srpski kralj" hotel, where he stayed when in Belgrade, and sat down at a desk to inspect some letters which had built up in his absence.

Mehmed Spaho declined to attend, saying he was overloaded with work.

Mehmed Spaho took something to write and, at that moment suddenly grabbed his chest and fell off his chair.

One says that, while preparing an outfit for Mehmed Spaho, Hadzihasanovic heard a shout coming from the bathroom, rushing over, only to find him dead by the faucet.

Mehmed Spaho reiterated her theory in 2014, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of her father's death, stating that Prince Paul was the one who ordered her father's assassination.

Mehmed Spaho said that the waiter, named Dragan Vujic, admitted that he personally poured the poison into the cup of coffee.