Pit Keeper - Jumpstart 2022

Pero Pirker was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician. He was the mayor of Zagreb from 1963 to 1967. His mayoralty coincided with the 1964 Zagreb flood, the deadliest and costliest natural disaster since the city's incorporation, and he oversaw the rebuilding of the affected areas, including the construction of 26,000 new flats and houses. In 1969 he was elected the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the ruling League of Communists of Croatia (SKH). He was a close associate of the main political figures of the Croatian Spring – SKH reformist leaders Savka Dabčević-Kučar and Miko Tripalo. After the suppression of that movement in late 1971, tens of thousands were expelled from the SKH, including 741 high-ranking officials such as Pirker, Dabčević-Kučar and Tripalo. Pirker died in August 1972, and his funeral drew 100,000 supporters as a form of protest against the suppression of the Croatian Spring.