Matko Laginja (August 10, 1852 – March 18, 1930) was a

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, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n lawyer and politician. Born in Klana, he earned a doctorate in law in

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. In his youth he adopted the political program of

Ante Starčević Ante Starčević ( ; 23 May 1823 – 28 February 1896) was a Croatian politician and writer. His policies centered around Croatian state law, the integrity of Croatian lands, and the right of Croats, his people to self-determination. As an import ...

and together with Vjekoslav Spinčić and Matko Mandić brought Croatian national thinking and sharp attacks against the local Italian party and

Italian nationalism Italian nationalism () is a movement which believes that the Italians are a nation with a single homogeneous identity, and therefrom seeks to promote the cultural unity of Italy as a country. From an Italian nationalist perspective, Italianness i ...

into the political life of

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

. As a leading local politician, he fought for three decades for a renaissance of the region's

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

. He continued his work 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 ...

, particularly as the

ban of Croatia Ban of Croatia () was the title of local rulers or office holders and after 1102, viceroys of Croatia. From the earliest periods of the Croatian state, some provinces were ruled by Ban (title), bans as a ruler's representative (viceroy) and sup ...

. From 1900 to 1915 he was an attorney in

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

; in 1915 he moved his practice to Zagreb. He was one of the leaders of the Croatian national movement in Istria as well as a member of the Istrian provincial parliament from 1883 to 1914. For one period he was ambassador to the Imperial Council in

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. ...

, then president of Starčević's Party of Rights. During the upheaval of fall 1918 he was trustee of the National Council in Istria. With the annexation of Istria to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

after

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 settled in Zagreb. From February to December 1920 Laginja was ban of Croatia within the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He was dismissed by the cabinet of

Milenko Radomar Vesnić Milenko (Cyrillic script: Миленко) is a name of Slavic origin, primarily used as a masculine given name. Notable people named Milenko include: People named Milenko As a given name * Milenko Simunovic Mile Istina * Milenko Ačimovič (b ...

on December 11, 1920 after allowing a rally by 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 ...

politician Stjepan Radić in Zagreb on December 8. He was elected to the Constitutional Assembly as a Croatian Union candidate. He resigned on June 1, 1921 along with ten others issuing a statement against centralization and for a federalized country. After this he withdrew from public life. He died in Zagreb.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laginja, Matko 1852 births 1930 deaths Bans of Croatia Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Croatian nationalists Party of Rights politicians Yugoslavism Lawyers from Austria-Hungary People from the Margraviate of Istria