Diana Niven Bečirović was born in the former Yugoslavia where she spent her happy childhood in the city of Tuzla. Even as the teenager, she stood out with her beauty and lively personality. When she moved to Sarajevo with her sister, she was offered a part in the TV commercial – and the rest is history. While working as a model in Sarajevo, she completed the high school and the Faculty of Political Sciences. But it is the success of her commercials that opened up many new opportunities and ultimately, Diana became Miss Yugoslavia, while as an adolescent, she was a knockout. With this worldwide recognized title of success, the eminent path of her future was secured.

On the surge of her accomplishments, she moved to Italy where she was immediately the favorite of editors and photographers alike while shooting magazine editorials and campaigns for the biggest fashion names. There she becomes close friends with the most powerful movers and shakers of Italy, and Europe, and her life intersected with famous actors, singers, sportsman, the cultural elite, businessmen, aristocracy. But, although a long-time resident of Milan, she could not resist the eternal city of Rome.

In Rome, Diana completed Collage of Journalism which paved the way for her new life adventures. Many prominent luminaries were eager to answer her thought-provoking and inquisitive up-to-the-moment questions, which were asked with surprising candor. She interviewed such dignitaries as His Holinesses Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, a former President of Italy, Francesco Cossiga along with luminaries Virna Lisi (actress), Luciano Pavarotti; Ayrton Senna (the late and legendary Formula 1 driver) and many others. While a prolific journalist Diana, continued to maintain her profile as a model and actress in movie projects by Dino Risi, co-staring with Vittorio Gassman and Giancarlo Giannini, and traveled regularly to Paris and London.

On top of her extravagant life in Rome, it was whispered that it was she who was the key witness of the fall of Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, but Diana has her own version of events about this topic, which till today remained a secret.

During the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Diana also served as the honorary good-will Ambassador for the international charity organization “The raped women and children from ex Yugoslavia” under the patronage of the president of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro; Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benezir Bhutto; Lady Diana; First Lady Hillary Clinton; and others.

Eventually, her horizon extended beyond Europe. She made another bold move and relocated to Los Angeles. Guided by her godfather, Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records, she entered into the elite society of Hollywood, socializing with famous actors, musicians, and businesspeople. Soon, she became interested in the film business but not as an actress, as acting was not her ambition. She graduated from the American Film Institute (AFI) and she worked as the executive producer on feature films with the prolific producer, Mark Damon.

When still in Italy, Diana was linked to the Holy See of Vatican City, since spirituality has played a major role in her life, although she came from the atheist family during the socialist regime of Marshal Tito. In Los Angeles, she ultimately became a student of Kabbalah for the last 15 years and is also involved in practice of Kundalini Yoga. She also is active in shamanism and Reiki.

But what would life of the diva like Diana be without the romance. There were always men in Diana’s life and she was adored and cherished, though her relationships remained veiled in mystery. Her public life reveals interactions with celebrities, but when it comes to her private life, Diana remained highly private, although journalists would never leave her alone. Whenever they would see her with somebody well-known, they would make an intriguing story, which often was not true. But, that was a price of fame.

In retrospect, her life was indeed a real modern fairy tale, though not always ornamented with roses, but always glamorous and captivating enough for the people to be intrigued.

This year, Diana poured her interesting and unusual life into her book “DIANA” where she writes about how the former Tito’s red star youth-group pioneer become a major star of the world jet set, illuminating many fascinating friendships and contemporaries that happened to be the part of our times.

Serbien-Croation Version

Diana Niven Bečirović svoje djetinjstvo je provela u Tuzli. Zapazili su je već kao tinejdžericu kada je dolazila kod sestre u Sarajevo i ponudili joj snimanje reklama. U Sarajevu je završila I gimnaziju, a zatim i fakultet Političkih nauka. Reklame su joj otvorile mnoge druge poslove, a kada je postala Miss Jugoslavije put prema uspjehu joj je bio otvoren.

Njezin novi dom postaje Italija gdje snima editorijale i kampanje za najveća modna imena, a društvo postaju najmoćniji ljudi Italije, zatim i Europe. Druži se s glumcima, pjevačima, bogatašima, biznismenima, aristokracijom. Iako je dugo vremena provela u Milanu, nije mogla odoljeti Rimu.

U Rimu završava fakultet novinarstva i kreće u svoju novu životnu avanturu. Na njezina pitanja odgovarali su između ostalih Francesco Cossiga (bivši predsjednik Italije); Virna Lisi (glumica); Luciano Pavarotti; Ayrton Senna (legendarni vozač Formule 1) papa Ivan Pavao, papa Benedict XVI i mnogi drugi.

Pisalo se o njoj da je bila jedan od ključnih svjedoka pada Berlusconia, no Diana o tome ima svoju priču.

Ubrzo joj je i Rim postao mali, pa se seli u Los Angeles. U okrilju svog kuma Ahmeta Erteguna osnivača slavnog Atlantic recorda ulazi u društvo Hollywoodskih glumaca i najpoznatijih glazbenika. Počinje se zanimati za film, ali ne kao glumica, biti glumica nije joj bilo primamljivo. Tu završava American Film Institute i kao producent radi na nekim od filmova, između ostalog s Mark Damonom.

Dok je bila u Italiji bila je povezana s Vatikanom i duhovnost u njezinom životu igrala je veliku ulogu iako dolazi iz ateističke porodice. U LA dolazi u doticaj s Kabbalah Centrom i sve ove godine proučava kabalu. Osim kabala bavi se jogom, a privlači je i šamanizam.

U Dianinom životu bilo je mnogih muškaraca, povezuju je s Goranom Bregovićem, Željkom Malnarem, Niki Laudom, Al Pachinom, tajnim i slavnim nogometašom čije ime ne otkriva i mnogim drugim. Danas je Diana sretno zaljubljena u svog princa s Dalekog istoka o kojem puno ne otkriva.

Njezin život je bio doista prava bajka, iako ne uvijek prosut s ružama, ali uvijek dovoljno glamurozan i intrigantan.

Svoj zanimljivi i nesvakidašnji život pretočila je u knjigu gdje piše o tome kako je od Titove pionirke postala glavna zvijezda svjetskog jat seta, osvjetljavajući mnoga druženja i ljude koji su joj bili dio njezinog puta.