Despite needing specialist treatment daily, spending long periods of time attached to a machine delivering oxygen to her lungs and fighting diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver – common secondary conditions of cystic fibrosis – she even managed to play the odd gig and shoot a video for “If I Fall”.Rather than simply trying to publicise the release of her album, Martineau used every interview opportunity to stress the need for people to carry donor cards. She said, There are fewer and fewer transplant operations of any description each year. Not enough people are carrying donor cards, probably because it’s something they don’t want to think about, and the odds of finding a suitable donor for me are so much greater because I don’t just need one vital organ, I need three, and all from the same body. To be honest, that’s unlikely to happen now.Alice Martineau’s motto was “Live life to the full”: A lot of people have said “Poor Alice”, patting me on the head. I just think, “Oh please!” I hate being called brave, or any mention of that word The last thing I want is for people to see me as a victim. When they hear the music, I hope people will realise I’m a singer-songwriter who just happens to be ill.Pierre Perrone. Zoran Djindjic, politician: born Bosanski Samac, Yugoslavia 1 August 1950; Mayor of Belgrade 1997; Prime Minister of Serbia 2001-2003; died Belgrade 12 March 2003.

As Prime Minister of Serbia and, before that, as a long-standing opposition politician, Zoran Djindjic excelled at different times both at being an anti-establishment rebel and as a consummate leader- manager. Sometimes he combined the two seemingly conflicting personality traits – perhaps no more so than when he worked as the campaign manager of Vojislav Kostunica, his fellow-opposition figure, in what turned out to be a successful bid in the September 2000 election to unseat Slobodan Milosevic, the authoritarian Yugoslav president, after his 13 years in power.
Djindjic was unlike any other Serbian opposition figure His guiding spirit was pragmatism. He had little interest in ideology, whether of the nationalist type embraced by Kostunica or of the conservative kind that was espoused by Vuk Draskovic. Nor was he a charismatic figure in the mould of Draskovic.If anything, Djindjic’s approach to politics was most similar to that of Milosevic, his great adversary – although, in spite of the accusations of his critics, he never used the more authoritarian methods of Serbia’s one-time strongman. But Djindjic’s opportunism, his Machiavellian feel for manipulation and his ability to turn difficult situations to his own advantage, were qualities that had earlier kept Milosevic in office through many turbulent years.Djindjic never sought popularity. Even many of the supporters in his Democratic Party (DS) and its coalition allies paid him no more than grudging tribute for his energy, professionalism and willingness to press on with reforms. Meanwhile, he was widely criticised for being arrogant and for getting involved in apparently shady backroom deals to consolidate his power.Born in 1950 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of the old Yugoslavia, Djindjic was the son of an officer in the Yugoslav People’s Army.

His upbringing may have contributed to his seemingly contradictory characteristics. On the one hand, he appeared at times to be a born rebel who wanted to challenge authority. On the other hand, he displayed an outstanding ability as a disciplined organiser.Already a dissident in his student days, to escape harassment he left Yugoslavia after he graduated from the philosophy school at Belgrade University in 1974. He studied and lectured in West Germany where he earned a PhD at Constance (Konstanz) University.Djindjic was among the founding members of the centrist DS which emerged as the one-party Communist system collapsed in 1989-90. A master tactician and an effective communicator, he took over as its leader in 1994.