Anton Korošec

Anton Korošec


10th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia
In office 28 July 1928 – 7 January 1929
Monarch	Alexander I
Preceded by	Velimir Vukićević
Succeeded by	Petar Živković
President of the National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
In office 29 October 1918 – 1 December 1918
Deputy	Ante Pavelić Svetozar Pribićević
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	12 May 1872 Biserjane, Duchy of Styria, Austria-Hungary
Died	14 December 1940 (aged 68) Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Citizenship	Yugoslav
Nationality	Slovene
Political party	Slovene People's Party
Religion	Roman Catholic

Anton Korošec (Slovene pronunciation: [anˈtóːn kɔˈróːʃɛt͡s], Serbo-Croatian: [ǎntoːn korǒʃet͡s]; 12 May 1872 – 14 December 1940) was a Slovenian political leader, a prominent member of the conservative People's Party, a Roman Catholic priest and a noted orator.

Korošec was born in Biserjane (then Duchy of Styria, Austria-Hungary, now part of Slovenia) and went to school in Ptuj and in Maribor. He studied theology and was ordained as a priest in 1895. He completed his education with a doctorate in theology from the University of Graz in 1905. He was friends with Janez Evangelist Krek and adopted his political views.

In 1907, Korošec was elected to the Reichsrat as a member of the Slovenian People's Party, where, as president of the Yugoslav Club, he read out the May Declaration, which called for all South Slavs to be unified in one state unit within the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Following the break-up of Austria-Hungary, the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, of which Korošec was the president, declared the creation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on 29 October 1918. Earlier, Korošec and Nikola Pašić had agreed on the terms of the Geneva Declaration, in which the Kingdom of Serbia recognized the equal rights of the different components of such a state should it join with it in a confederation. From the very beginning however, Serbs and Croats favoured central control and the subsequent Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was a unitary monarchy.