Ivan Lorković (; 17 June 1876 – 24 February 1926) was a Croatian politician from

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 ...

who studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He was a member of the Croat-Serb Coalition, a political alliance active in the early 20th century. He was known for supporting the Republican Organization, which advocated for republican governance in Croatia and joined the United Croatian and the Serbian Academic Youth Organization, a student initiative promoting collaboration between Croatian and Serbian students.

Biography

Between 1902 and 1905, Ivan Lorković edited the

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

opposition newspaper ''National Defense'' (). The newspaper aimed to encourage political awareness among the middle class and youth of the

region. In 1905, he co-founded the Croatian National Progressive Party (). In the

1913 Croatian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia on 16 and 17 December 1913. There were 209,618 eligible male voters. According to the census of December 31, 1910, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia had a population of 2,621,954 ...

, he was elected as a member representing the constituency of

Valpovo Valpovo is a town in Slavonia, Croatia. It is close to the Drava river, northwest of Osijek. As of 2021, the population of Valpovo is 7,406, with a total of 11,563 in the municipality. Name In Hungarian the town is known as ''Valpó'' and in ...

for the Croatian Republican Peasant Party. In 1914, Lorković attended a meeting in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

that included politicians from all South Slavic lands within the monarchy. He presented a

memorandum A memorandum (: memorandums or memoranda; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered"), also known as a briefing note, is a Writing, written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviation, ...

outlining a strategy to break up the

Austro-Hungarian Empire 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 between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

and ensure Croatian statehood. His proposal faced opposition, notably from Tomáš G. Masaryk, founder and first president of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. Masaryk doubted the United Kingdom and France would support the Empire's complete dissolution, favoring a confederation instead. Members Shs

In 1918, due to disagreements over the Yugoslav issue, Lorković left the Croat-Serb Coalition. He joined the newly founded Croatian Union political party in 1919. Along with Stjepan Radić and others, he joined the Croatian Bloc (), formed on 14 January 1922 by the Croatian Republican Peasant Party, the Croatian Union, and the

Party of Rights The Party of Rights () was a Croatian nationalism, Croatian nationalist political party in Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and later in Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was founded in 1861 by Ante Starčević and Eugen Kvaternik, two influ ...

. It existed until November of that year. On 13 September 1925, at a conference of the Croatian Union in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, representatives and dissidents from the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...

founded the Croatian People's Federalist Union. On 11 January 1926, the Croatian Federalist Peasant Party was founded in

, and Lorković became the head of its presidency. Following the 1928

assassination of Stjepan Radić Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

, the party began to support the opposition Peasant-Democratic Coalition. As part of the

6 January Dictatorship The 6 January Dictatorship ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Шестојануарска диктатура, Šestojanuarska diktatura; ; ) was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia after 1929) by ...

, the party was formally banned on 20 January 1929. Ivan's father was Blaž Lorković, an economist and lawyer who contributed to the development of Croatian

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

. His son,

Mladen Mladen () is a South Slavic masculine given name, derived from the Slavic root ''mlad'' (, ), meaning "young". It is present in Bosnian, Slovenian, Montenegrin, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Croatian society since the Middle Ages. ...

was a Ustaša minister in the fascist

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, ...

, a Nazi-collaborationist involved in the

Lorković–Vokić plot Lorković–Vokić plot () was a mid-1944 attempt initiated by Interior Minister Mladen Lorković and Armed Forces Minister Ante Vokić to form a coalition government with the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), abandon the Axis powers and align the In ...

. His other son, Zdravko, became an

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

known for his work in

cytotaxonomy Cytotaxonomy is the classification of organisms using comparative studies of Chromosome, chromosomes during meosis. Description Cytotaxonomy is a branch of taxonomy that uses the characteristics of cellular structures to classify organisms. In cyt ...

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

chromosomes A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most importa ...

Bibliography

* Banac, Ivo, ''The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics'', Ithaca:

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

(1984), p. 172 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorkovic, Ivan 1876 births 1926 deaths Yugoslav politicians Representatives in the Croatian Parliament (1848–1918) Croatian Peasant Party politicians National Progressive Party (Carniola) politicians Politicians from Zagreb Yugoslavism Journalists from Austria-Hungary Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery