Verica Barac, the president of the Serbian government's Anti-Corruption Council, has died following a long and serious illness.

Verica Barac initiated numerous topics on corruption and was known in public as one of Serbia's greatest fighters against that social plague.

Born on June 14, 1955, near Cacak, where she completed elementary and high school, she graduated from the Belgrade Law School in 1980 and passed her bar examination.

She was appointed president of the Serbian government's Anti-Corruption Council, which was formed in December 2001, on May 23, 2003. She received the 2008 Dragoljub Stosic Award for Civil Courage, which is awarded by the Association of Unions and the NGO House of Justice Strasbourg.

She was not a member of any political party.

President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and representatives of most Serbian political parties sent their condolences to the Barac family on March 19.