Šimun Debelić (26 January 1902 – May 1945) was a Croatian veterinarian and professor at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

. He was born in

Prkovci Prkovci is a village in Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, S ...

, finished local schooling in 1912, and a gymnasium in

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city settlement's population was 28,111 in the 2021 census, while the total population was 30,842, making it the largest town of the county. It is a local tr ...

in 1920. He studied to be a veterinarian at the University of Zagreb, graduating in 1926 and achieving a doctorate by 1928. Domestically, he worked in Skoplje and

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. He went to the

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in 1930 for specialization, and later to

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and

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as well in 1931 and 1932. On 12 October 1932, he became a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

at the Veterinary Faculty in Zagreb. In 1936 he became a part-time professor, and in 1940 he was accepted for full-time. In the

Banovina of Croatia The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=, Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an administrative subdivision ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a m ...

he headed the Veterinary Department and from 1941 he served as undersecretary in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

's Ministry of National Economy. He remained in the city of Zagreb after the defeat of the Independent State of Croatia and the entrance of

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

into the city on May 8, 1945. He was captured by the Partisans on May 17 and killed soon after, in Zagreb.

Family

He was married to Vlasta Lorković, daughter of

Ivan Lorković Ivan Lorković (; 17 June 1876 – 24 February 1926) was a Croatian politician from Zagreb who studied Law at the University of Cambridge. He was a member of the Croat-Serb Coalition, a political alliance active in the early 20th century. He w ...

and sister of

Mladen Lorković Mladen Lorković (; 1 March 1909 – April 1945) was a Croatian politician and lawyer who became a senior member of the Ustaše and served as the Foreign Minister and Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World W ...

. The couple had two sons, Mladen and Nikola. Mladen Debelić was a well-known doctor in his own right, and Nikola Debelić served as Croatian diplomat after the nation's independence in 1991.

References

Dr Šimun Debelić

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debelic, Simun 1902 births 1945 deaths Croatian veterinarians Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb alumni Academic staff of the University of Zagreb Executed Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany People killed by Yugoslav Partisans