Ivan Penava

Ivan Penava
Penava in 2023
Member of the Croatian Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 October 2016
ConstituencyV electoral district
Mayor of Vukovar
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 June 2014
Preceded byŽeljko Sabo
Personal details
Born (1974-12-31) 31 December 1974 (age 49)
Vukovar, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Political partyHDZ (until 2020)
DP (2020–present)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Zagreb
Occupation
  • Kinesiologist
  • politician

Ivan Penava (born 31 December 1974) is a Croatian kinesiologist and politician who is serving as the mayor of Vukovar since 16 June 2014 and as a member of the Croatian Parliament since 14 October 2016. A former member of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), he is now the president of the right-wing populist Homeland Movement (DP) since 9 October 2021.

Early life, education and career

Penava was born on 31 December 1974 in Vukovar, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. His parents are from Posušje in Herzegovina. Penava spent his childhood in the district of Borovo Naselje.[1]

He enrolled in the High School of Mathematics and Informatics in Vukovar, however, following the Croatian War of Independence and the Battle of Vukovar, the family had to flee to Varaždin where Penava continued his education and later moved to Zagreb where he graduated from the XV Gymnasium.[2]

After high school, he decided to focus his interest on sports, considering that he had been very active and successful in rowing since elementary school. He entered the Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb, where he graduated in 1999 and earned the title of professor of kinesiology. In the same year, he represented Croatia at the Military World Games in the rowing team, and performed at international rowing regattas for veterans.[2][3]

Penava returned to Vukovar and got a job as a physical education and health professor at the Vukovar School of Economics. After eight years of teaching, he was elected director. During three semesters, he worked as an external associate for physical education and health at Lavoslav Ružički Polytechnic School in Vukovar.[2][3]

He gained his doctorate at the Faculty of Economics in 2010, with a thesis titled "Alignment of Vocational Education with the Labor Market".[4] He is also the author of several published works in this field.[2]

Political career

Croatian Democratic Union

In 2014, Penava ran for mayor of Vukovar in early local elections as a representative of Croatian Democration Union (HDZ)-led coalition, and in the second round he defeated the previous mayor, Željko Sabo, who was an independent candidate with the support of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)-led coalition.[5][6] Penava was elected to the Croatian Parliament in the 2016 parliamentary election.[7] He was re-elected mayor in 2017, winning 61.72% of the popular vote.[3]

Penava has constantly denied the Serb minority an official status for the Serbian language in Vukovar, despite ethnic Serbs having been more than 30% of the total population of Vukovar until 2021.[8][9][10] In 2019, Penava criticized Serb pupils from Vukovar for not standing up to the Croatian national anthem and called Serb politicians in Croatia "nationalists who want a Greater Serbia".[11]

Homeland Movement

In 2020, Penava announced his departure from the HDZ to join the right-wing populist Homeland Movement (DP) of Miroslav Škoro,[12] stating that he would "never and under no circumstances" be in a coalition with Milorad Pupovac and his Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS).[13] He was re-elected to the parliament in the 2020 election.[14]

In October 2021, Penava was elected president of DP, succeeding Škoro.[15]

Personal life

Penava is married and has two children. He is a Roman Catholic.[2] Besides his native Croatian, he also speaks English.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Portret tjedna/Ivan Penava (HDZ) gradonačelnik Vukovara: Budete li dobri, dobit ćete ćirilicu…". TRIS portal - Šibenik (in Croatian). 2015-08-22. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  2. ^ a b c d e Grad Vukovar: Životopis gradonačelnika - prof. Ivan Penava Archived 2019-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, objavljeno: 23. srpnja 2014., pristupljeno 29. listopada 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Gradonačelnik.hr: Ivan Penava Archived 2019-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, pristupljeno 29. listopada 2019.
  4. ^ Grad Vukovar: O gradonačelniku - Ivan Penava, prof., pristupljeno 3. prosinca 2019.
  5. ^ Ivan Penava, gradonačelnik Vukovara, razgovarao: Danijel Stanić, ktabkbih.net, 18. studenoga 2015., pristupljeno 3. prosinca 2019.
  6. ^ U drugom krugu Penava (47,43) i Sabo (36,42) Archived 2019-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, radio.hrt.hr, 16. lipnja 2014., pristupljeno 3. prosinca 2019.
  7. ^ "Zastupnik data 155". Hrvatski sabor (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  8. ^ "Srbima u Vukovaru ponovo osporeno pravo na ćirilicu". Politika Online. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  9. ^ Alo! (2015-11-24). "PRST UPEREN NA SRBE Skandalozna poruka gradonačelnika Vukovara". Blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  10. ^ Войводини, Радиодифузна установа Войводини Радио-телевизия. "Gradonačelnik Vukovara za napad na srpskog đaka okrivljuje SDSS?!". Радио-телевизия Войводини. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  11. ^ N.I (2019-01-22). "Ko je Ivan Penava, gradonačelnik Vukovara koji, kad ga uhvate u malverzacijama, za sve probleme OPTUŽI SRBE". Blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  12. ^ "Penava izašao iz HDZ-a, ne očekuje odmazdu: Ako krenete đonom, dobit ćete đonom". Dnevnik.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  13. ^ Vojvodine, Javna medijska ustanova JMU Radio-televizija. "Penava o koaliciji sa SDSS". JMU Radio-televizija Vojvodine (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  14. ^ "Zastupnik data 1288". Hrvatski sabor (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  15. ^ "Ivan Penava izabran za novog predsjednika Domovinskog pokreta". www.vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  16. ^ "Grad Vukovar - O gradonačelniku". www.vukovar.hr. Retrieved 2024-04-19.