Ivan Žagrović was born in 1944 in Saborsko. He grew up in a poor family, the child of a single mother. His father was killed in the Second World War, in the shelling of Saborsko. Until the war in the 1990s he worked as a sales manager at the paper factory in Plaški. During the era of socialist Yugoslavia he was a member of Matica hrvatska. After Franjo Tuđman came to power and relations between nationalities in Plaški deteriorated, he left his job at the paper factory and opened a shop in a part of his family house. During the siege of Saborsko, from August 5th to November 11th, 1991, he shared the fate of the rest of the town’s inhabitants. Following the fall of Saborsko, he and his wife sought refuge in Rijeka where he stayed until 1997. In 1995, in preparation for Operation Storm, he was called up to serve in the Saborsko military company. He spent forty days as a member of this unit. His house in Saborsko was burnt down. Today he lives in Saborsko with his wife and is the president of the local branch of the Croatian Party of Pensioners.