Jovan Banjanin (1874–1960) was a

Croatian Serb The Serbs of Croatia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Срби у Хрватској, Srbi u Hrvatskoj) or Croatian Serbs ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Хрватски Срби, Hrvatski Srbi) constitute the largest national minority in ...

and

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 ...

n politician.

Biography

Banjanin was born in 1874 in

Gospić Gospić () is a town in Lika, Croatia. It is the seat of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Gospić is located in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika. It is the administrative center of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located n ...

, Austria-Hungary (now Croatia). He pursued

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or ...

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 ...

and the

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

until 1898. In 1896, Banjanin was an active member of the United Croat and Serb Academic Youth (''Ujedinjena hrvatska i srpska akademska omladina'') along with

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 ...

, Lav Mazzura, and

Svetozar Pribičević Svetozar (Cyrillic script: Светозар) is a Slavic origin given name and may refer to: * Svetozar Boroević (1856–1920), Austro-Hungarian Field Marshal * Svetozar Čiplić (born 1965), Serbian politician * Svetozar Đanić (1917–1941), S ...

before moving to the

Serb Independent Party Serb Independent Party ( sr-Latn, Srpska samostalna stranka, SSS, ), also known as Serb Autonomous Party or simply Serb Autonomists, was an ethnic Serb political party in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was e ...

in 1900 together with Pribičević. The two took leading positions in the party by 1903. Banjanin was a proponent of the 1903 and supporter of joining the

Croat-Serb Coalition The Croat-Serb Coalition ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hrvatsko-srpska koalicija, separator=/, Хрватско-српска коалиција) was a major political alliance in Austria-Hungary during the early 20th century that governed the Croatian lands, th ...

. Banjanin was elected a member of the

Croatian Sabor The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

in the

1906 Croatian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia on 3, 4 and 5 May 1906. 45,381 people were entitled to vote in the elections. The People's Party won 37 seats, the Croat-Serb Coalition 32 seats, and Starčević's Party of R ...

in the district of

Udbina Udbina is a settlement and a municipality in historical Krbava, in the Lika region of Croatia. Administratively, it is part of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Udbina is located in the large karst field called Krbava. It is approximately 45 kil ...

, and he retained his seat until 1910. In 1907–1910, he was also appointed a delegate of the

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

to the

Diet of Hungary The Diet of Hungary or originally: Parlamentum Publicum / Parlamentum Generale () was the most important political assembly in Hungary since the 12th century, which emerged to the position of the supreme legislative institution in the Kingdom ...

. Following the outbreak of the

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 ...

, he was conscripted into the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

, but he deserted the army to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. During the war, he stayed in France and Switzerland and joined the

Yugoslav Committee The Yugoslav Committee (, , ) was a World War I-era, unelected, '' ad-hoc'' committee. It largely consisted of émigré Croat, Slovene, and Bosnian Serb politicians and political activists whose aim was the detachment of Austro-Hungarian l ...

—an

ad-hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances (compare with ''a pr ...

group of politicians and activists advocating unification of the

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...

living in

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 ...

as well as in Serbia. After the war, Banjanin joined the Democratic Party, but he left it by the end of 1919 due to disagreements with the party leadership on unconstitutional government in the newly established

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 ...

. He was a politically independent member of the

Temporary National Representation The Temporary National Representation (), also the Interim National Legislation and the Interim National Parliament, was the first legislative body established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was created by the decree of Princ ...

, the provisional legislative body of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes tasked with adopting the national constitution. In 1920, he worked with lawyer Ivo Politeo 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 ...

and

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 ...

to establish a non-partisan political movement. Later that year, Banjanin won a seat in the

1920 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Constitutional Assembly election Constitutional Assembly elections were held in the recently proclaimed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia) on 28 November 1920. The election was held in the context of political debate over the degree of centralisa ...

as an independent candidate in Zagreb. He rejoined the Democratic Party in 1924 following a split between

Ljubomir Davidović Ljubomir Davidović (24 December 1863 – 19 February 1940) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who served as prime minister (1919–1920 and 1924) of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia). Biography Davido ...

and Pribičević and Pribičević's departure from the party. He was defeated in the 1925 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes parliamentary election, but Banjanin won a seat in the

Zagreb Assembly The City Assembly of the City of Zagreb (, short: GSGZ) is the lawmaking body of the Croatian capital of Zagreb. It consists of 47 members who were elected by universal suffrage and secret ballot at 2021 elections for a term of four years. Th ...

in the 1927 Zagreb local elections. In 1930s, Banjanin became a member of the

Yugoslav National Party The Yugoslav National Party (, Југославенска национална странка, JNS; ), established as Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy (; ), was the sole-ruling party of Yugoslavia during the period of royal authoritarian di ...

. He became a member of the government of General

Dušan Simović Dušan Simović (; 28 October 1882 – 26 August 1962) was a Yugoslav Serb Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia), army general who served as Chief of the General Staff (Yugoslavia)#Royal Yugoslav Armed Forces (1920–1941), Chief of the General Sta ...

in March 1941 following the

Yugoslav coup d'état The Yugoslav coup d'état took place on 27 March 1941 in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, when the regency led by Prince Paul of Yugoslavia was overthrown and King Peter II fully assumed monarchical powers. The coup was planned and conducte ...

, and left the country in April after the

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

invaded Yugoslavia. He served as a minister in the

Yugoslav government-in-exile The Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Exile ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Vlada Kraljevine Jugoslavije u egzilu, Влада Краљевине Југославије у егзилу) was an official government-in-exile of Yugoslavia, headed by King ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and establishment of communist rule in Yugoslavia, Banjanin remained in the United Kingdom. He died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banjanin, Jovan 1874 births 1960 deaths People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Serbs of Croatia Democratic Party (Yugoslavia) politicians People from Gospić Government ministers of Yugoslavia