Lidija Vukićević
{{Short description|Serbian actress and politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Lidija Vukićević
| native_name = Лидија Вукићевић
| native_name_lang = sr
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Lidija Vukićević.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = {{small|Vukićević presenting the Zbilja magazine's lifetime literary achievement award in March 2006.}}
| order = Member of the National Assembly of Serbia
| term_start = June 2007
| term_end = May 2012
| order2 =
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|07|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Kraljevo, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Serbian
| spouse = {{marriage|Mitar Mrkela|1991|2000|reason=divorced}}
| children = 2
| party = Serbian Radical Party (SRS) {{small|(2004–2012)}}
| otherparty =
| relations =
| residence = Belgrade, Serbia
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Actress, legislator
| profession =
| religion =
| cabinet =
}}
Lidija Vukićević ({{lang-sr-Cyrl|Лидија Вукићевић}}; born 20 July 1962) is a Serbian film and TV actress and politician.
Best known for playing the role of Violeta a.k.a. Viki, daughter of the central Popadić family on the hugely popular Bolji život television series, Vukićević's acting career peaked throughout the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s.
From 2004 until 2012, she was also politically involved with the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), serving as their MP in the Serbian parliament from 2007 until 2012.[http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/vesti_dana/story/2845/'BOLJI+ŽIVOT'.html 'BOLJI ŽIVOT']
She originates from the Vasojevići clan.
Acting career
Following several small roles on film and television, her cinematic career in Yugoslavia was launched in 1985 after being cast in {{ill|Zoran Čalić|sr}}'s {{ill|Žikina dinastija (film)|sr|Žikina dinastija|lt=Žikina dinastija}}, the seventh instalment of the Lude godine popular folksy comedy film series. Twenty two years of age at the time, Vukićević played the role of sexy housemaid Lilika.
The exposure on Žikina dinastija, and especially regular appearances on Bolji život, led to more roles in Yugoslav movies such as the lead in {{ill|Lutalica|sr}} (also written and directed by Čalić), playing a beautiful small town Gypsy budding folk singer arriving in Belgrade to perform at a kafana in pursuit of a singing career. Then came prominent supporting roles in {{ill|Špijun na štiklama|sr}} and {{ill|Vampiri su među nama|sr}} (second instalment of Čalić's {{ill|Ćao, inspektore|sr|Ćao inspektore (filmski serijal)}} film series) that roughly fall into the same genre as Žikina dinastija.
Her attractive looks and sex appeal were a prominent feature of all of her early cinematic roles.
Political career
In 2004, Vukićević joined the opposition Serbian Radical Party (SRS), a political organization whose leader Vojislav Šešelj had already been detained in The Hague for over a year, awaiting trial at the international criminal tribunal. In his absence, the party that won 27.62% of the popular vote at the most recent parliamentary election and held 82 National Assembly seats (more than any other individual party in Serbia at the time), was led by Tomislav Nikolić, Aleksandar Vučić, and Dragan Todorović.
For the 2007 parliamentary elections, Vukićević was named on the SRS electoral list. Following the election—that again saw the party perform successfully with 29.07% of the popular vote—she became one of its 81 MPs.[http://www.otvoreniparlament.rs/politicari/lidija-vukicevic/ Lidija Vukićević] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204004440/http://www.otvoreniparlament.rs/politicari/lidija-vukicevic/ |date=2014-02-04 }};Otvoreni parlament[https://otvoreniparlament.rs/poslanik/6914 Lidija Vukićević] The following year, in September 2008, as the SRS underwent a bitter split—with many of its members, led by top-ranking officials Nikolić and Vučić, leaving to form the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS)—Vukićević decided to stay loyal to the SRS.
Along with a significant number of prominent party members, she left the SRS following the 2012 elections where the party won only 4.62% of the popular vote—below the 5% parliamentary threshold, meaning it failed to obtain any parliamentary seats.[http://www.telegraf.rs/vesti/politika/225663-puca-srs-clanovi-ocekivali-da-seselj-metlom-pocisti-stranku-umesto-toga-pljustale-ostavke PUCA SRS: Očekivali da Šešelj metlom počisti stranku, umesto toga pljuštale ostavke!];telegraf.rs, 28 May 2012 Reportedly, Šešelj's personnel decisions following the election fiasco, such as naming Vjerica Radeta as the new party vice-president, precipitated the mass exodus from the SRS.{{cite news|url=http://www.pressonline.rs/info/politika/222724/ostavke-u-srs.html|title=Ostavke u SRS|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203170659/http://www.pressonline.rs/info/politika/222724/ostavke-u-srs.html|agency=Kurir|publisher=PressOnline.rs|url-status=dead|date=28 May 2012|accessdate=13 December 2022|archivedate=3 February 2014}}
Personal life
During the early 1990s, Vukićević began dating the professional footballer Mitar Mrkela, three years her junior, playing with Red Star Belgrade at the time. They got married in 1991 and Vukićević moved to Enschede, Netherlands,{{cite web|url=https://www.gloria.rs/zvezde/vesti/234314/vencanica-lidije-vukicevic-u-to-vreme-bila-je-trazena|title=Da li biste imali hrabrosti za ovako nešto: Venčanica Lidije Vukićević iz ’91 je bila hit u Jugoslaviji|date=4 September 2023|access-date=22 April 2025|first=Sandra|last=Petković|website=Gloria.rs|archiveurl=http://archive.today/2025.04.23-021545/https://www.gloria.rs/zvezde/vesti/234314/vencanica-lidije-vukicevic-u-to-vreme-bila-je-trazena|archivedate=23 April 2025|url-status=live|language=sr}} joining Mrkela who had in the meantime transferred to a club there. In 1992, they had a child, son Andrej,{{cite web|url=https://sportklub.n1info.rs/fudbal/srbija-super-liga/sinovi-cekaju-oceve-ofk-beograd-sa-zvezdasima-na-zvezdu/|title=Sinovi čekaju očeve: OFK Beograd sa zvezdašima na Zvezdu|date=10 November 2024|access-date=25 January 2025|archivedate=27 January 2025|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250127190308/https://sportklub.n1info.rs/fudbal/srbija-super-liga/sinovi-cekaju-oceve-ofk-beograd-sa-zvezdasima-na-zvezdu/|url-status=live|first=Nikola|last=Stamenić|website=Sportklub.rs|language=sr}} who would follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a professional footballer and later football administrator. Their second son, David, was born in 1997.
The couple divorced in 2000.{{cite web|url=https://mondo.rs/Zabava/Zvezde-i-tracevi/a2030634/lidija-vukicevic-o-razvodu-od-mitra-mrkele.html|title="Ovu rečenicu mi je izgovorio Mitar Mrkela kad sam tražila razvod": Lidija Vukićević dan kasnije podnela zahtev|date=27 January 2025|access-date=27 January 2025|first=Dragana|last=Tomašević|archivedate=27 January 2025|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250127191656/https://mondo.rs/Zabava/Zvezde-i-tracevi/a2030634/lidija-vukicevic-o-razvodu-od-mitra-mrkele.html|url-status=live|website=Mondo.rs|language=sr}}{{cite web|url=https://www.kurir.rs/stars/4156856/ovo-je-mocnik-koga-je-volela-lidija-vukicevic|title=Ovo je moćnik koga je volela Lidija Vukićević! Zbog njega je napustila Srbiju, rodila dva sina, a nakon razvoda krenula od nule!|date=6 May 2023|access-date=27 January 2025|archivedate=27 January 2025|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250127193332/https://www.kurir.rs/stars/4156856/ovo-je-mocnik-koga-je-volela-lidija-vukicevic|url-status=live|website=Kurir|language=sr}}{{cite web|url=https://mondo.rs/Zabava/Zvezde-i-tracevi/a1951751/lidija-vukicevic-o-razvodu-od-mitra-mrkele.html|title="Sve je lakše kad si s fudbalerom" Lidija Vukićević progovorila o razvodu - Pričali su "nemoj" zbog finansija|date=12 June 2024|access-date=27 January 2025|first=|last=|archivedate=27 January 2025|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250127200810/https://mondo.rs/Zabava/Zvezde-i-tracevi/a1951751/lidija-vukicevic-o-razvodu-od-mitra-mrkele.html|url-status=live|website=Mondo.rs|language=sr}}
In the early 2000s, she was reportedly in a relationship with the Yugoslav Army's former Chief of the General Staff, colonel general Nebojša Pavković.{{cite news|url=http://www.b92.net/info/iz-dubine-duse/izjava.php?ID=198-2682004|title=Radikalka u srcu i duši|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041221103702/http://www.b92.net/info/iz-dubine-duse/izjava.php?ID=198-2682004|agency=Kurir|publisher=B92.net|url-status=dead|date=13 August 2004|accessdate=13 December 2022|archivedate=21 December 2004}}{{cite news|url=https://www.blic.rs/zabava/vesti/pavkovic-i-lidija-na-svetom-stefanu/nqepzlw|title=Pavković i Lidija na Svetom Stefanu|archiveurl=|agency=Blic|url-status=|date=20 August 2003|accessdate=13 December 2022|archivedate=}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0904345}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vukicevic, Lidija}}
Category:Serbian television actresses
Category:Serbian Radical Party politicians