Ivan Ceresnjes was the head of the Jewish community of Bosnia-Herzegovina until his emigration to Israel in 1996, and a vice-chairman of the Yugoslav Federation of Jewish Communities. During the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina he organized rescue efforts to evacuate Jews and non-Jews and also organized nonsectarian humanitarian relief for citizens of the besieged city and other parts of the country. An architect by profession, he presently is employed by the Center for Jewish Art of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.