Teufik “Tofa” Velagić

Teufik "Tofa" Velagić was born on January 28, 1925 in Blagaj. He is the son of Mehmed-beg Velagić and Hajrija- hanuma Muradbegović Velagić. He finished kindergarten and four-grade elementary school in Blagaj in 1936. After passing the entrance exam, he entered the Mostar high school, where he graduated in 1944. After completing his high school education, he enrolled at the Higher Islamic Theological School (VIŠT). Together with Nedžib Šaćirbegović and Tarik Muftić, he organized the group "Young Muslims" in Zagreb in 1949. He was arrested there in the same year, after which he was taken to Sarajevo for questioning. He spent almost ten years in prison. He was the first in the group of "Young Muslims" to advocate the idea of ​​Bosniakism. The ideas advocated by Velagić always implied freedom of religion and full work engagement. During his stay in prison, Teufik Velagić made a firm decision that he would escape from Yugoslavia after finishing college, which he later did. Before emigrating, he wanted to go to Blagaj and Mostar once more to say goodbye to his loved ones. When parting, he did not tell them anything about his intention. When entering Austria at the border, he said he was a Bosniak. From 1962 until his death, Velagić lived and worked in Vienna. In the famous "Sarajevo trial" at the trial of Muslim-Bosniak intellectuals, acquaintance with Velagić was used as a special incriminating action. The group of Muslim intellectuals gathered around Alija Izetbegović was accused of maintaining ties with "extreme enemy emigration" in Vienna, that is, with Velagić. From 1962 until the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, Teufik Velagić did not come to his native Blagaj, i.e. Mostar. After the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, he actively participated in the work of the SDA. Until the end of the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, his contributions in the field of diplomacy were little known to the public of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Connoisseurs of his work point out that he was an unwavering fighter for Bosnia and Herzegovina and that he affirmed the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina in contacts with European governments. He died in Vienna on November, 19. 2013. and was buried in cemetery of Ali Pasha's Mosque in Sarajevo.