Vladimir Nazor (30 May 1876 – 19 June 1949) was a Croatian poet and politician. During and after World War II in Yugoslavia, he served as the first President of the Presidium of the Croatian Parliament (Croatian head of state), and first Speaker of the Croatian Parliament. Nazor is a well-known poet, writer, translator, and humanist. He was not an active politician until 1941, but had a significant political influence through ethical aspects of his work during prewar Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Early career Nazor's early work paralleled the rise of the Young Croatian literary movement. He acquired much literary popularity in Croatia writing about folk legends and stories, including Big Joseph (Veli Jože) (1908), which features a helpful and kind hearted giant named Jože living in the town of Motovun (Inner Istria). His verses in Hrvatski kraljevi (Croatian Kings) (1912) established him as a prominent patriot poet. Istrian Tales (Istarske priče) (1913) showcased his storytelling style. By illuminating the personality of the South Slavs through tales of Croatia, he contributed to the creation of the Yugoslav national consciousness. Nazor supported the opposition alliance led by Vladko Maček in the 1938 Yugoslavian election. During World War II, on 30 December 1941, Nazor became a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts by government decree. In 1942 he escaped from Zagreb with poet Ivan Goran Kovačić in a boat across the river Kupa, sublimed in the poem The Boat on the Kupa (Čamac na Kupi), and then joined the Partisans. However, there is also a different story related to Nazor's alleged escape. According to the Croatian writer and politician Nedjeljko Mihanović (citing a testimony from Nazor's sister), Nazor, who at the time was old and had health issues, did not escape on his own will but was abducted by communist agents for propaganda purposes and later forced to collaborate with the new government. Nazor became one of Josip Broz Tito's closest associates and the President of Croatia's World War II assembly, the ZAVNOH. He went on to write a war diary With Partisans (S partizanima) (1943–1945). Nazor began his political career as the head of the State Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH), the provisional Croatian World War II deliberative assembly, before becoming head of the first post-war Croatian National Parliament (Narodni Sabor). In that post, he was, by law, concurrently the first (non-monarchical) head of state