Summary:
On Friday, 21 March, Rusyn leader Djura Papuga died in Novi Sad. Papuga was 63.

Born on 20 April 1940 in Ruski Kerestur, in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Papuga attended elementary school in his home town, high school in nearby Verbaš, the Electro-technical Faculty in Ljubljana (present-day Slovenia), and took a Master’s in Newark, New Jersey (United States).

Djura Papuga was a great supporter of his Rusyn nation, leading first the Novi Sad chapter of the Union of Rusyns and Ukrainians of Yugoslavia (Sojuz), later becoming president and eventually president of the national Sojuz organization.

At the time of his death, he was a leader of the Ruski Kerestur-based Ruska Matka organization. He was also the secretary of the recently-formed National Council of the Rusyn minority in Serbia and Montenegro.

Djura Papuga was buried on 24 March 2003 in Novi Sad. He is survived by his wife Femka, and the families of his children, Tanja and Nataša.

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