Farewells

ZORAN PLAVŠIĆ (1944–2022), IMPORTANT NAME OF SERBIAN JOURNALISM AND NATIONAL REVIEW
Expert on Safe Roads
He was in journalism for less than sixty years, fifty in the Association of Journalists. Millions of kilometers remained behind him, incalculable space and time filled with his pen, voice, life. From Radio Belgrade, through ”Ekspres Politika”, ”Politika”, ”Auto Svet”, to ”National Review” – this rich journalistic career enfolded. The grandson of the famous professor Milan Budimir, the writer of the bestselling guide ”By car through Yugoslavia”, Zoran Plavšić left a lasting mark

By: Mišo Vujović

Our dear colleague, friend and associate Zoran Plavšić, a long-time journalist ace of ”Politika”, doyen of car journalism, a great reporter and a great enthusiast in traffic safety campaigns in the former Yugoslavia, has left us. He was born in 1944, at the end of a great war, in the then destroyed Belgrade, with whose lungs he breathed to the last breath.
It is difficult, almost impossible, to summarize in one review everything that contained the layered and rich personal and professional life of our colleague, who was adorned with energy, speed, readiness to tackle challenges in all fields, but in two particularly. Automotive and journalism.
Even in the years when routine dominates in the profession, Zoran left nothing to chance. He checked every finding, not allowing a single unreliable word to be published. With great charm, he was able to cheer us up, to lift us up, to breathe new strength when we give up, to react wittily and joyfully in his own way in delicate situations. His optimism, attacked by the illness, began to wane after the departure of his life companion and our dear colleague Jagoda Plavšić, also a long-term associate of the National Review.

FOR A GOOD JOURNEY

He started his journalistic career back in 1963 at Radio Belgrade, and after returning from the army he wrote for various magazines, including the then high-circulation Ilustrovana Politika. From there, he transferred to Ekspres Politika, where he remained until its closure. He cooperated with other editions of ”Politika’s” house all the time, and after the closure of Ekspres he wrote in the Auto Svet and, until his retirement, for the daily Politika.
As a passionate lover of motoring, a passionate driver, since the beginning of the 1970s, he participated in all journalistic rallies, starting with ”Fića” (The Zastava 750) and the national class. Winning trophies, changing various types of cars, he got to know the whole of Europe on wheels, reaching the North Cape in Norway, one of the northernmost points of the ”old continent”.
His stay in Manila at the 1978 World Basketball Championship, where he met the so-called ”lying policemen” for the first time, and the knowledge that 5,000 people died on the roads of Yugoslavia that year, led him to start the ”Have a Good Journey” column Ekspres. This column initiated the establishment of the Social Council for Traffic Safety, composed of eminent experts, professors, doctors, representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the Auto-Moto Association, insurance companies, educational institutions... After his articles, ”lying policemen” began to emerge throughout the cities of great Yugoslavia.
The ”Have a Good Journey” column also initiated the competition of Yugoslav cities in traffic safety ”My City, My Safety”, then the competition of bus carriers ”Blue Ribbon”, competition of schools where 100,000 sticks with the ”stop” sign were distributed to students... It all included information on cultural heritage, natural attractions, places to rest near roads.
During his rich and dynamic career, he tested almost all new brands and types of cars for the readers of Ekspres and Auto Svet. He visited the factory halls of the largest manufacturers in the world automobile industry. He once turned his rich experience into a high-circulation publication By Car through Yugoslavia.

THE LAST RIDE

These days, we said farewell to Zoran Plavšić for his last ride, from which he will not bring a column with the smell of hot tires, he will not look at the performance of powerful machines, comfort, aerodynamics or design.
It remains for us to lovingly cherish the memory of our dear colleague and his life filled with life.

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Decades, themes, angles
He said that he started his career in 1963 on the First Program of Radio Belgrade, then moved to the youth newsroom on the Second Program. In ”Politika Ekspres”, since 1969, he first wrote for the domestic political section, later he followed the automotive industry and technological development. In the ”National Review” he wrote mostly about energy and tourism. He participated in the work on several books published by ”Princip Pres”. He was in the Association of Journalists of Serbia from 1973 until his death. He passed away on 20 March 2022, and his urn was laid at the New Cemetery in Belgrade.

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Energy
Zoran and his wife Jagoda Plavšić were in the ”National Review” from the beginning. She wrote mostly about medicine and medical tourism, and he mostly about energy. He brought important articles about cities and municipalities, tourist destinations, news in Serbian tourism. Hardened professionals, long-time editors, experts in crafts and genre finesse, based on traditional journalistic ethics, they were our irreplaceable contributors.

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Grandpa
Zoran’s grandfather was Milan Budimir (1891–1975), a famous expert in Balkan studies and classical philologist, professor at the University of Belgrade. Zoran and his family also lived in his house, in Cvijićeva Street. In 2013, he helped us make a great article about Professor Budimir, providing us with texts, documents, photographs (”The Deepest Beats of the Balkans”, National Review, No. 38, 2013. This is how we introduced Professor Budimir:
”He arrived from Mrkonjić Grad to solve the most delicate prehistoric secrets of the Peninsula. He received his doctorate in Vienna on the religion of Indo-Europeans. He knew Andrić and Kočić, gave lectures to Gavril Princip, and traveled with Nušić to Masarik’s birthday party. He went blind before the age of 30, but he founded Serbian Balkan studies and strengthened classical philology. He despised ‘every crazy running after Europe’ and called for ‘the resurrection of the Balkan spirit and the Balkan Fatherland’.”