Stipe Božić
Stipe Božić was born in 1951 in a small village called Zavojane, in the Dalmatian hinterland. During the Second World War, members of his family were involved with the Partisan movement; some of his close relations were killed fighting for the Partisans. His maternal grandmother died in a refugee camp in El Shatt, in Egypt. During the period of Yugoslavia, Stipe Božić started his career in alpinism and became one of the most successful Croatian alpinists. He was a member of expeditions which reached the highest peak in the Himalayas, Mount Everest. At the beginning of the war in Croatia he joined military operations, as he knew the mountains in Croatia very well, in particular those in the area of the Dinara mountain. Meanwhile, since 1991 he has been working for Hrvatska Radio Televizija, HRT [Croatian Radio Television], first as an editor and later as a cameraman. Besides the area of Dinara, he spent time in the southern battlefield, around Dubrovnik. In 1992 he was wounded in one of the military operations and after that he ceased to be actively involved. He filmed many war situations for HRT. He continued his involvement with alpinism during and after the war. He is an author of many travelogues, documentary films and various programs.