Nikolai Obic

*"Obic" redirects here. For his son, see Nikolai Obic Jr.*

General **Nikolai Sergeyevich Obic Sr.** (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: **Николај Сергејевич Обић**; 6 April 1908 – 4 October 1967) was a Serbo-Croatian-Canadian navy officer who served with Yugoslavia during World War II and with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Korean War, for which he served in North Korea under Kim Il-sung's ruling.

He married Anna Mulvey in 1929 and they had eight children, six sons and two daughters, Nikolai Jr (1930–1965), Vladimir (1932–2009), Ivan (born 1934), Jakov (1935–2003), Josip (1938–2012), Danica (1940–2023), Borislav (1941–2023) and Millicent (1943–2020). In March 1945, the Obics fled Yugoslavia under the request of Ante Pavelić, five months before World War II ended. They first settled in Laos, which Obic hated Lao people because he presumed that they were Chinese, but went to Canada in December that same year under the request of Douglas MacArthur over in Manila, Philippines. The Obics settled in Vancouver, but moved to Winnipeg the following year in July 1946.

In 1956, Nikolai Obic Jr. was sent back to Yugoslavia where he was arrested by the Soviets during the Cold War in 1962 and died in prison on 23 March 1965 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. This death affected Nikolai Sr. to a point where he himself also died from a heart attack on 4 October 1967. Nikolai Obic is also the maternal grandfather of Luke Anderson, the main character of Luke and Kyu.

## Life and career

Nikolai Sergeyevich Obic was born on 6 April 1908 in Belgrade, Serbia. He was the youngest of six children of Adam Obic (1867–1916) and wife Juliana (née Dragović, 1869–1920). He had five older siblings, Adam Jr. (1891–1929), Fatima (1893–1965), Esma (1897–1989), Davud (1900–1971) and Dejana (1903–1999). His father Adam was killed in action over in Serbia during World War I in 1916. During the 1918 flu, Obic’s mother died from the influenza four years after her husband later in 1920. Obic had a close bond with his oldest brother Adam Jr., who died of tuberculosis in 1929, when Nikolai was 21 years old. Adam Jr. had one daughter, Ajna (1915–2008). Ajna had one son, William Oracheski (1936–1962), who committed suicide at age 26 in New York City on 18 August 1962. After graduating high school, Obic went on to study at the University of Rome in 1927. He also recieved a bronze medal at the decathlon in the 1928 Summer Olympics. In 1929, Obic met Anna Mulvey while he was in Kyiv for a two week vacation. The two tied the knot on 30 July 1929. The two went back to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and moved to Velika Kladuša with seven of their eight children being born in Velika Kladuša while their youngest was born in Zagreb while Obic was in Italy when Millicent was born.

In March 1945, while Yugoslavia was invaded by the Fascists, Obic, his wife Anna and their eight children, fled the country. They first settled in Luang Prabang, Indochina (present day Laos) until they were forced to leave in November due to Obic's ignorance with Laotian people. In December 1945, just a month after leaving the Indochinese Peninsula, the Obics arrived in the Philippines where they met Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur suggested that Obic and the rest of his family should live in the United States. Obic thought about it and he didn't want to go. So, MacArthur suggested Canada. Obic said, "That's a good idea, General MacArthur. Canada seems like a nice place to live in." And under MacArthur's suggestion, the Obics took a plane from Manila to Vancouver on 22 December 1945. After settling for seven months, the Obics left Vancouver to go on a train trip to Winnipeg. Of course, Nikolai decided to settle his family in Winnipeg and remained in the city for the rest of their lives.

In 1948, Obic went to a special dinner with the South Korean president Syngman Rhee over in Seoul for a special celebration of the founding of the Republic of Korea. In October 1950, following the outbreak of the Korean War, Obic and his son were sent to live in Korea, with Nikolai Jr. being sent to South Korea, where he saw his uncle James Mulvey in combat against the DPRK while Nikolai Sr. was sent to North Korea, where he met Kim Il sung in May 1951. Obic remained in Pyongyang, while Mulvey left Seoul in July 1951. He returned to Canada in May 1954. When he arrived, he saw his son had a daughter with Adrianna Aquino, a Filipino girl that Nikolai Jr. began dating since 1948. Nikolai Sr. ordered his son to break up with Aquino due to her being Asian, despite having his full respects to Kim Il-sung.

In 1956, Nikolai Jr. went back to Yugoslavia, reminding his family that he'll be living with his uncle James Mulvey alongside with his daughter Katharine. Nikolai Sr. accepted his son's trip to Yugoslavia. "Stay safe," he said. In 1962, Nikolai Jr. was arrested by the Soviets and was taken to a prison in Moscow. On 23 March 1965, Nikolai Jr. died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at the age of 34. This death affected Nikolai Sr. deeply as he had a blood clot the following month after his son's death.

On 4 October 1967, Nikolai Obic was watching a news report of Woody Guthrie’s death on CBC, when all of a sudden, he suffered a massive heart attack. He was rushed to St. Boniface Hospital. When he arrived in the ER, paramedics discovered that Obic was pronounced dead on arrival. He was 59 years old. He was buried at St. Boniface Cemetery over on Archibald St. just south from Elizabeth Rd.

## Children

Nikolai Obic and Anna Mulvey had eight children, six sons and two daughters.

* Nikolai Obic Jr. (11 May 1930 – 23 March 1965), had one daughter, Katharine (1951–2022) from his relationship with Adrianna Aquino (1931–1994), whom he dated from 1948 to 1954. He committed suicide on 23 March 1965 at a prison in the Soviet Union, aged 34. He worked for the Royal Canadian Army in South Korea with his uncle James Mulvey during the Korean War, but was forced to live back in Yugoslavia after James was widowed in 1955. Katharine also tagged along with her father due to Aquino not wanting anything to do with Katharine.
* Vladimir Obic (20 November 1932 – 22 January 2009), married Judith Edwards (1935–2024) in 1958 and had three daughters. He died from heart failure on 22 January 2009, aged 76. Named for Vladimir the Great.
* Ivan Obic (born 3 May 1934), married in 1960 (widowed in 2016) and had four children. Former sales distributor at Eaton's Centre in downtown Winnipeg from 1956 until 1999, when Eaton's declared its bankruptcy. Named for Ivan the Great/Ivan the Terrible (sources vary).
* Jakov Obic (21 November 1935 – 13 February 2003), married Penelope Kennedy (1938–2009) in 1961 and they had three children. He worked for Winnipeg Transit as a bus driver from 1958 to 2001. Jakov was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2002 and he died on 13 February 2003, aged 67. Named for Croatian composer Jakov Gotovac. His middle name was Peter, named for Peter the Great.
* Josip Obic (18 March 1938 – 7 July 2012), married Helen Hudson (1937–2023) in 1963 and they four children. He died from kidney failure on 7 July 2012, aged 74. Josip was named for Josip Broz Tito, whom Obic despised because he was an anti-communist, which if they were to stay, they would be arrested and then shot.
* Danica Obic (3 January 1940 – 24 Janaury 2023), married Paul Petrovic (born 1936) in 1963 and they had three children. She died from a stroke on 24 January 2023, aged 83.
* Borislav Obic (12 December 1941 – 5 March 2023), married Samantha Meyer (born 1944) in 1967 and had four children. He died from colon cancer on 5 March 2023, aged 81. He was named for Boris Karloff
* Millicent Obic (11 November 1943 – 15 April 2020), married Leonard Anderson in 1962 and they had five children. She worked as a nurse at Concordia Hospital from 1964 to 2019. She died from COVID-19 on 15 April 2020, aged 76. Millicent was named after Millicent Hearst, the wife of William Randolph Hearst.

## Trivia

* Nikolai Obic was named after Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a Russian composer from the 19th century.
	+ Coincidently, Rimsky-Korsakov died the same year Obic was born.
* He despised Laotians because their nationality name is almost similar to his, which is Serbo-Croatian.
* His favourite actress was Bette Davis.
* Kim Il-sung was one of Obic's idols.
	+ Though he hated Stalin, Pavelić, Tito, Hitler and Mao, Obic gave his full respect on Hirohito.
		- Funny enough, North Korea is Obic’s favourite country.
* He became an anti-Communist in 1940 after his daughter Danica was born.
* Obic and his family were forced to leave Yugoslavia due to him hating on Ante Pavelić. If they were to actually stay in Yugoslavia after World War II ended, Pavelić would order his men to shoot Obic and his family like the Romanov family murder back in 1918.
* Obic forbid his children from marrying anyone that were Asian all because his eldest son Nikolai Obic Jr. had an affair with a 17-year-old Filipino girl when he was 18 years old.

## Gallery

Obic with his wife and son in July 1931.Obic in 1945. Vientiane, Laos.Obic with Kim Il-sung on 8 May 1951 in Pyongyang.
## References

1. ↑ Obic went to the United States when he saw Bride of Frankenstein back on 6 May 1935 while Anna was pregnant with Jakov, so she had to stay in Velika Kladuša.