{{Short description|Serbian lawyer and politician}} {{Use British English|date=December 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Toma Fila | native_name = Тома Фила | image = Toma Fila lawyer.jpg | caption = Fila in 2015 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|7|29|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Bitolj]], [[Axis occupation of Serbia#Bulgarian occupation|Bulgarian-occupied Yugoslavia]] (modern [[North Macedonia]]) | alma_mater = [[University of Belgrade]] | occupation = Lawyer, politician | party = [[Socialist Party of Serbia|SPS]] (2017–present) | office1 = Member of the [[National Assembly (Serbia)|National Assembly]] | term_start1 = 3 August 2020 | term_end1 = | president1 = [[Ivica Dačić]]<br />[[Vladimir Orlić]] | office2 = Member of the [[City Assembly of Belgrade]] | term_start2 = 9 May 2018 | term_end2 = 7 June 2018 | president2 = [[Nikola Nikodijević]] }}
'''Toma Fila''' ({{Lang-sr-Cyrl|Тома Фила}}; born 29 July 1941) is a Serbian lawyer and politician serving as a member of the [[National Assembly (Serbia)|National Assembly]] since 3 August 2020. He is also a member of the presidency of the [[Socialist Party of Serbia]] (SPS) and a member of the Diocesan Council of the [[Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci]].
== Early life and education == Fila was born on 29 July 1941 in [[Bitola]], territory of the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]], then occupied by [[Third Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]] (modern [[North Macedonia]]). His father was an ethnic [[Aromanians|Aromanian]] lawyer [[Filota Fila]] and his mother Eli was the daughter of a merchant from [[Belgrade]]. After the Bulgarian occupation authorities expelled them from Bitola, his father's hometown, they had to move to [[Nazi-occupied Serbia]]. Toma spent the war years with his mother in [[Negotin]], while his father worked in Belgrade and in 1943 he was arrested for being a [[Yugoslav Partisans|Yugoslav Partisan]] member, for which he was detained in the [[Banjica concentration camp]] and then taken to the [[Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp|Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Поповић|first=Рајна|title=Дедино лицидерско срце|url=https://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/37739/Dedino-licidersko-srce|access-date=18 February 2022|website=Politika Online}}</ref>
He finished elementary and high school in Belgrade and in 1963 graduated from the [[University of Belgrade Faculty of Law|Faculty of Law]] at the [[University of Belgrade]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Toma Fila|url=https://otvoreniparlament.rs/poslanik/8983|access-date=18 February 2022|website=otvoreniparlament.rs}}</ref>
== Law career == Following his graduation, he became the youngest lawyer in [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and continued to work in his father's law office. Fila and his father were against the death penalty and often defended the accused for the most serious crimes. He served as the president of the Serbian Bar Association from 1990 to 1994.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=16 February 2022|title=Kandidat za gradonačelnika Beograda Toma Fila: Advokat za specijalne namene – Izbori 2022. – Nedeljnik Vreme|url=https://www.vreme.com/vesti/kandidat-za-gradonacelnika-beograda-toma-fila-avokat-za-specijalne-namene/|access-date=18 February 2022|website=www.vreme.com|language=sr-RS}}</ref> He was twice the president of the Federation of the Yugoslav Bar Association.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Advokati "Fila"|url=http://advokatifila.com/sr/o-nama.php|access-date=18 February 2022|website=advokatifila.com}}</ref> Throughout his career, he defended [[Jovanka Broz]], [[Slobodan Milošević]], [[Žarko Laušević]], [[Goran Hadžić]] and others.<ref name=":0" />
== Political career == His political career started in 2008 when he was named legal advisor of [[Ivica Dačić]], at that time the [[Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia|deputy prime minister of Serbia]] and the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia)|minister of internal affairs]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Košarkaš Divac savetnik Ivice Dačića|url=https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/1330478.html|access-date=18 February 2022|website=Radio Slobodna Evropa|date=16 October 2008 |language=sh |last1=Teodorović |first1=Miloš }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Savetnik Toma Fila o Hagu|url=https://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2008&mm=11&dd=04&nav_category=206&nav_id=326968|access-date=18 February 2022|website=B92.net| date=11 April 2008 |language=sr}}</ref> In 2017, he joined SPS and, one year later, he was elected to the [[City Assembly of Belgrade]] following the [[2018 Belgrade City Assembly election|2018 local elections]].<ref name=":0" /> Shortly after, on 7 June, he resigned as a member of the City Assembly.<ref>{{Cite web|date=3 February 2020|title=Svetislav Goncić, Vesna Stanojević i Toma Fila podneli ostavke {{!}} N1 Srbija|url=http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a394551/Svetislav-Goncic-Vesna-Stanojevic-i-Toma-Fila-podneli-ostavke.html|access-date=18 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203034053/http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a394551/Svetislav-Goncic-Vesna-Stanojevic-i-Toma-Fila-podneli-ostavke.html |archive-date=3 February 2020 }}</ref> He currently serves as the member of the presidency of the Socialist Party of Serbia.<ref>{{Cite web|date=17 February 2022|title=Toma Fila: Branilac i "advokat Beograda" – Ljudi – Dnevni list Danas|url=https://www.danas.rs/ljudi/toma-fila-branilac-i-advokat-beograda/|access-date=18 February 2022|language=sr-RS}}</ref>
Following the [[2020 Serbian parliamentary election]], Fila was elected member of the [[National Assembly (Serbia)|National Assembly]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Narodna skupština Republike Srbije {{!}} Narodni poslanik|url=http://www.parlament.gov.rs/TOMA_FILA.1121.891.html|access-date=18 February 2022|website=www.parlament.gov.rs}}</ref> In February 2022, Fila was named the ballot carrier and SPS's candidate for [[Mayor of Belgrade]] at the upcoming [[2022 Belgrade City Assembly election|Belgrade City Assembly election]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=SPS PREDALA LISTU ZA GRADSKE IZBORE: Toma Fila kandidat socijalista za gradonačelnika|url=https://www.novosti.rs/vesti/izbori-2022/1086874/sps-predala-listu-gradske-izbore-toma-fila-kandidat-socijalista-gradonacelnika|access-date=18 February 2022|website=NOVOSTI|language=sr}}</ref>
== References == <references />
{{commons category|Toma Fila}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fila, Toma}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century Serbian lawyers]] [[Category:Socialist Party of Serbia politicians]] [[Category:Members of the National Assembly (Serbia)]] [[Category:Serbian people of Aromanian descent]] [[Category:Serbian people of Macedonian descent]] [[Category:Macedonian people of Aromanian descent]] [[Category:People from Bitola]] [[Category:21st-century Serbian lawyers]]