Rusmir Mahmutćehajić (29 June 1948 – 5 April 2026) was a Bosnian author, intellectual and politician.
Life and career Mahmutćehajić was born in Stolac, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina on 29 June 1948. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Sarajevo and graduated in 1973. He continued his studies at the University of Zagreb with a focus on the propagation of electromagnetic waves in multiconductor systems. In 1988, he was a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Leuven for a year and became internationally known as an expert in electrical engineering.
From 1985 to 1991, he served as Professor and Dean of Electrical Engineering at the University of Osijek in Croatia.
He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 and Energy Minister from 1992 to 1994, during the Bosnian war. He was a close associate of Alija Izetbegović. He later parted with Izetbegović and the SDA over the Dayton Agreement.
Mahmutćehajić served as a professor of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and Islamic theology at the University of Sarajevo since 1995. He lived in Sarajevo, where he worked as the president of International Forum Bosnia. He is the author of more than 20 works in Bosnian, several of which have been translated to English, French, Italian, and Turkish.
Mahmutćehajić died in Sarajevo on 6 April 2026, at the age of 77.
Thought Mahmutćehajić argued for a vision of Bosnia that is pluralistic and inclusive of racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.
Works Mahmutćehajić was the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of essays and articles. His publications include: 1977 – Krhkost 1996 – Suđeni Stolac 2000 – Bosnia the Good: Tolerance and Tradition 2000 – The Denial of Bosnia 2003 – Sarajevo Essays: Politics, Ideology, and Tradition 2005 – Learning from Bosnia: Approaching Tradition 2006 – The Mosque: the Heart of Submission 2007 – On Love: In the Muslim Tradition 2011 – On the Other: A Muslim View 2011 – Across the River: On the Poetry of Mak Dizdar 2011 – Maintaining the Sacred Center: the Bosnian City of Stolac 2015 – The Praised and the Virgin
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