Edvard Kardelj

"Kardelj had had many years of preparation for his postWorld War II role as theoretician of Yugoslav socialism. There was a two-year internship, from late 1934 to early 1937, first as a student, then as a lecturer of MarxismLeninism, in the USSR. There were the prison confinements in Yugoslavia (in Pozarevac from 1930 to 1932 and two detentions in Liubljana in 1938) which allowed time to read and meditate. Such prison stays seem to have been particularly productive spiritually and intellectually for political detainees. During these internments Kardelj reviewed literature on Slovene history and formulated his seminal work, Razvoj slovenskega narodnega vprasanja ("The Development of the Slovene National Question"), which was published in 1939 under the pseudonym of Sperans."

"What struck Broz most about Kardelj was his steadfastness and his calm, equable temperament. He was also favorably impressed by the quiet efficiency with which he did his work. Efficiency was a quality by which Broz set great store. 'Kardelj was so quiet,' he said many years later, 'that you hardly noticed him at first; but decisions were made, aims were achieved, and then you realized that it was he who had made the proposal, persuaded others to accept it, and put it into effect. No setback dismayed him. He was free of pretense and bluff. He eschewed fractionalism. His mind dwelt on essentials. After my first meeting with him I had no doubt that he was an honest man and a true revolutionary.'"