Života Panić

Života Panić (Serbian Cyrillic: Живота Панић) (November 3, 1933, Gornja Crnišava, Kingdom of Yugoslavia – November 19, 2003, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro) was the last acting minister of defense and army chief of staff in the Yugoslav government.

Panić held the rank of General, he was in charge of the Yugoslav people's army after the resignation of general Blagoje Adžić in 1992. Panić was in office from 1992 until 1993 (in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) through the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1993, he was sacked for scandals relating to his son Goran Panić who was supplying the army at supposed inflated prices.

Panić graduated from Yugoslavian military school as a tank commander and gradually rose through the ranks of the Yugoslav People's Army through the 1970s and 1980s. He was given authority over the 1st Army District (Belgrade) and was the senior officer in charge of the units which fought in the battle of Vukovar.

When the complete dissolution of former Yugoslavia was steadily occurring around April 27, 1992, Panić's position was no longer applicable to the current political problems and complications. He was offered a position of chief of staff in the new Yugoslav Army. Panić began to re-align the Yugoslav army in 1993 with new battle-plans and strategies, but was not prepared for the political power struggles that were occurring in Belgrade at the time and retired.

He died in Belgrade on November 19, 2003, shortly after his 70th birthday.