Vladan was the oldest of five children born to well-to-do Serbian Orthodox parents in the village of Gnjilane in the Serbian part of Yugoslavia. Vladan went to Montpelier, France, where he earned a law degree from the university. When Vladan returned to Yugoslavia, he worked as an attorney in Belgrade. He married and had one daughter.

1933-39: Vladan's wife died in 1933, and his 4-year-old daughter went to live with her maternal great-aunt. Meanwhile, Vladan had expanded his law practice and was litigating cases outside of Yugoslavia. He became engaged to Andjelika, a Slovenian doctor, and had his daughter join them in Belgrade. When war broke out in Europe in September 1939, Yugoslavia declared itself neutral.

1940-43: The Germans began bombing Belgrade on Palm Sunday, April 6, 1941, and entered the city six days later. Vladan, his daughter and fiancee fled south to central Serbia. There Vladan's fiancee found work in a hospital. Vladan smuggled medical supplies from the hospital to wounded partisans. In March 1943, after almost two years working with the resistance, Vladan was captured in the village of Kucevo by a local Serbian fascist. For two days, Vladan was tortured, but refused to reveal any information.

On March 16, 1943, Vladan died in Kucevo from ruptured kidneys, incurred during the course of the interrogation.

Vladan Popovic