Viktor Alexander (May 1, 1865 – March 26, 1934) was a well-known Croatian lawyer and public prosecutor 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 ...

, the capital of Croatia.

Background and family

Alexander was born in Zagreb on May 1, 1865, to a wealthy and prominent

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

. His father, Ljudevit Alexander, was from

Güssing Güssing (; , ) is a town in Burgenland, Austria. It is located at , with a population of 3,610 (2023), and is the administrative center of the Güssing (district), Güssing district. For centuries the town occupied an important position on the we ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and his mother Leonora (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Weiss) Alexander was from

Veszprém Veszprém (; , , , ) is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name. Etymology The city's name derives ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, the daughter of a wealthy merchant Wolf (Volf) and Johanna (born Stern) Weiss. He was raised with his brother Erich, and half-siblings Artur, Oskar Arthur, Robert Milan, Gizela Grünwald, and Olga Eisner, all from his father's second marriage. Alexander's mother died when he was three years old, and his father married Ida (

Weiss) Alexander in 1870. Alexander's stepmother was not related to his mother, even though she had the same maiden name. Alexander finished elementary school in Zagreb, and high school in

Senj Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress () which was completed in 1558. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were ...

, a town in Croatia. He attended and graduated from the Faculty of Law 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 ...

. Alexander married twice, his first wife was

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 ...

born Olga (

Weiss), sister of a notable Zagreb banker

Oton Vinski Oton Vinski (born Otto Weiss; 20 March 1877 – 1942) was an influential Croatian banker who was killed during the Holocaust. Vinski was born in Osijek on 20 March 1877, as Otto Weiss, to a Jewish family of Franjo and Berta Weiss. Vinski was marr ...

(born Otto Weiss). Alexander separated from his first wife in 1904, and married Ivana (

Erben) from

Petrinja Petrinja () is a town in central Croatia near Sisak in the historic region of Banija, Banovina. It is administratively located in Sisak-Moslavina County. On December 29, 2020, the town was 2020 Petrinja earthquake, hit by a strong earthquake wit ...

, daughter of Franjo and Milka Erben. Alexander meet his second wife through his stepsister Olga. Ivan Mirnik; Obitelj Alexander ili kratka kronika izbrisanog vremena; Zavod za hrvatsku povijest Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagreb; 1995 Zagreb; Vol. 28; stranica 108, 109, 110, 111, 112.

Career

Alexander was a member of the

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Jewish Lodge Zagreb. He was a board member of the colliery "Mirna", owned by his cousin Samuel David Alexander. At the beginning of his career, Alexander was junior barrister in the district court of

Vukovar Vukovar (; sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, , ) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern Regions of Croatia, regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka (river), Vuka and the Danube. Vukova ...

. Later he was the public prosecutor in

. When he returned to Zagreb, at first, he was the deputy public prosecutor and later he was appointed as the public prosecutor. Before and during

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 ...

, Alexander was one of the most influential people in Croatia, thanks to his friendship with Ban

Iván Skerlecz Baron Iván Skerlecz de Lomnicza (often rendered ''Ivan Škrlec Lomnički'' in Croatian; 20 July 1873 – 12 January 1951) was a Croatian '' ban'' (viceroy) between 21 July 1913, until 29 June 1917. Skerlecz was born in Oroszló, Baranya Coun ...

. After World War I, he was decorated with

Order of St. Sava The Order of St. Sava () is an ecclesiastic decoration conferred by the Serbian Orthodox Church and a dynastic order presented by the house of Karađorđević. It was previously a state order awarded by both the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom ...

and

Order of the Yugoslav Crown The Order of the Yugoslav Crown was instituted by King Alexander I of Yugoslavia on 5 April 1930, to commemorate his changing of the name of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It continues as a dynastic o ...

. In 1917, Alexander played an important role in liberating loyal and wrongly charged people from accusations of high treason. He travelled 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. ...

, to have an audience with

Charles I of Austria Charles I (, ; 17 August 1887 – 1 April 1922) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary (as Charles IV), and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from November 1916 until the monarchy was abolished in November 1918. He was the ...

, to whom he submitted a report which showed that the accusations of the Austro-Hungarian central administration in

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 ...

against many distinguished citizens and political leaders such as Dr. Ivo Frank, Dr. , Dr. Vladimir Sachs-Petrović, almost all the Croatian population in 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 ...

Military Frontier The Military Frontier (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...

and

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia (; ; ) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar. History The Habs ...

, were based upon forged documents about supposed secret espionage in favour of the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

Death

Alexander died on March 26, 1934, in Zagreb and was buried at the

Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, ), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery (), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members of all religious groups: Catholic, Orthodox, M ...

. Gradska groblja Zagreb: Viktor Aleksander, Mirogoj RKT-900-STANIC-231

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Viktor 1865 births 1934 deaths Croatian Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian people of Austrian-Jewish descent Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni Lawyers from Zagreb Prosecutors Viktor Croatian Freemasons Recipients of the Order of St. Sava Recipients of the Order of the Yugoslav Crown Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Lawyers from Austria-Hungary

Background and family

Career

Death

See also

References

Bibliography