Petar Živković

Petar Živković (Cyrillic script: Петар Живковић; 1 January 1879 – 3 February 1947) was a Serbian soldier and political figure in Yugoslavia. He was Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 7 January 1929 until 4 April 1932.

Life

Petar Živković was born in Negotin, Principality of Serbia (present-day Bor District, Serbia) in 1879. A soldier at the Serbian court, he helped overthrow the Obrenović dynasty with the assassination of King Aleksandar Obrenović (11 June), which was orchestrated by colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević, the founder and leading member of the secret nationalist organization Black Hand. Živković later founded the secret organization White Hand in 1912, which served to counter the power of the Black Hand. In 1921, Alexander I of Yugoslavia appointed Živković commander of the Palace Guards; in 1929 he was appointed Prime Minister.

Živković held the office as a member of the Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy (JRSD), which was soon the only legal party in Yugoslavia, due to his electoral "reforms." He resigned as prime minister in 1932, and shortly thereafter founded the Yugoslav National Party, becoming its president in 1936.