Etbin Kristan (15 April 1867 – 22 November 1953) was a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n labour leader and

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician and writer during the late- Austrian-Hungarian and the Yugoslav monarchy.

Biography

Kristan was born in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola (, , ) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarc ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now the capital of Slovenia) and baptized ''Ethbin''. He attended high school in Ljubljana and in

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 ...

. After finishing high school, he enrolled in the military school in

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

. In 1887, he quit the military, moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and dedicated himself to journalism. In Vienna, he became active in the labor movement. In 1896, he co-founded the Yugoslav Social Democratic Party (JSDS), and served as its chairman until 1914. Kristan belonged to the left wing of the party. He was one of the mastermind of

non-territorial autonomy Non-territorial autonomy is a type of autonomy in which the autonomous are not population groups living in a territory with defined borders, but rather communities defined by linguistic, cultural, and religious features, which features’ preserv ...

, but was not able to convince his comrades from other Austrian social Democratic parties. He advocated cultural autonomy for all the peoples in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and clashed with the right wing of his party (represented by Albin Prepeluh, Dragotin Lončar and

Josip Ferfolja Josip Ferfolja (27 September 1880 – 11 December 1958) was a Slovene lawyer and social democratic politician, and human rights activist from the Province of Gorizia. Although he was an Italian citizen for most of his life, he considered himself ...

), which demanded territorial autonomy for Yugoslav peoples. In 1914, he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He returned shortly after the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and served as member of the first parliament of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

. Disappointed by the political development in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, he moved back to America in 1921. He settled in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, and co-founded the Slovene Republican Association of America, which he chaired. He returned to Yugoslavia shortly before his death in 1951. He died in Ljubljana in 1953.

Literary career

In addition to his political career, Kristan was a translator, journalist, poet, and novelist, and the editor of many Slovene publications based in Europe and the United States.

References

External links

Kristan, Etbin, Papers, UMN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristan, Etbin 1867 births 1953 deaths Politicians from Ljubljana Carniolan people Slovenian socialists Journalists from Ljubljana Slovenian writers American people of Slovenian descent People from Austria-Hungary Yugoslav writers