Founder of the Center for Democracy Foundation.
President of the Center for Democracy Foundation.
Dragoljub Mićunović was born in Toplice, southern Serbia, on July 14th 1930. He spent his childhood and high school years in Skopje, Merdare, Kuršumlija and Prokuplje. During the conflict between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union (the so-called Informbiro period, 1948-1955) he found himself among the members of the Communist party labelled as Stalinists. As a result, he spent twenty months in Goli otok – a prison and work camp for political prisoners in Yugoslavia. Upon returning from prison he began his studies of philosophy, graduating in 1954.
In 1960 he became Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade where he completed his PhD. He taught History of social and political theories at the Department of sociology and philosophy. He was an active member of the Korčula Summer School (1963-1974) and a member of the editorial board of the Praxis journal. He was among the organizers of anti-government protests of June 1968. Due to his oppositional work, he was removed from the Faculty of Philosophy, together with seven of his other colleagues, by a Lex Specialis, passed in 1975. He was a guest lecturer at universities in the USA and Germany. Upon his return to Yugoslavia, he started working at the Center for Philosophy and Social Theory, and in 1990 he returned to teaching at the Faculty of Philosophy.
At the dawn of political pluralism in Yugoslavia, Mićunović took part in the initiative of a group of intellectuals to found the Democratic Party, one of the first opposition parties in Serbia, and was elected its first president. In 1994, Zoran Đinđić took over the party presidency, and Mićunović left in 1996 to form another party – the Democratic Center. In 2000 he joined a broad coalition of opposition parties that overturned Milošević’s regime. After the democratic changes, he became the President of the National Assembly. He returned to the Democratic Party and became the President of its Political Council.
Founder of the Center for Democracy Foundation. Prominent supporter of the development of civil society in Serbia and the region. The founders of the Center for Democracy were united by their common need to join the democratic potentials and engage them in developing the democratic ideas and democratic political culture; nurturing dialogue and spirit of tolerance; advancing the political opinion based on arguments and educating citizens to participate in the processes of building a democratic society.
Books: Logika i sociologija: induktivno zaključivanje u sociologiji, 1971; Socijalna filozofija: Ogledi, 1988; Filozofija minima, 2001; Muški zločin i izvinjenje, 2003; Moja politika, 2005; Reči u vremenu: skupštinski govori, 2007; Logički problemi u istraživanju društva, 2008; Istorija društvenih teorija 1, 2010; Istorija društvenih teorija 2, 2010; Život u nevremenu 1, 2013; Život u nevremenu 2, 2014; Život u nevremenu 3, 2016.
He was recipient of numerous awards for promoting democracy and tolerance including the French medal of Légion d’Honneur.
Prof. Dr. Dragoljub Mićunović passed away on May 25, 2026, in Belgrade.
