Ivo Pilar
| Ivo Pilar | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
19 June 1874 Zagreb, Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 3 September 1933 (aged 59) Zagreb, Yugoslavia |
| Resting place | Mirogoj cemetery, Zagreb, Croatia |
| Nationality | Croat |
| Fields | History, geopolitics, law |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna Paris Law Faculty |
| Known for | Father of Croatian geopolitics; founder of the Croat People's Union |
Ivo Pilar (19 June 1874 – 3 September 1933) was a Croatian historian, politician and lawyer, considered the father of Croatian geopolitics. His book The South Slav Question is a seminal work on the South Slav geopolitical issues.
Pilar was born in Zagreb, where he graduated from high school. He completed the studies in law in Vienna and attended lectures at the prestigious Ecole de Droit in Paris. He was one of the ideologues of the Croatian modernism and belonged to the group of the Croatian writers led by Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević after 1900.
He went from Paris back to Vienna, where he worked as a secretary in an ironworks corporation. Then he left for Sarajevo, where he was the secretary of the National Bank. He published essays and articles in Kranjčević's Nada and literary magazines in Zagreb, where he was employed at the Royal Court Table. In 1905 he went to Tuzla and opened his own legal practice. He stayed in Tuzla till 1920 and developed strong legal and Croatian patriotic activities. As he studied the conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially the position of the Croatian people, he actively engaged in politics, believing that Croats should be more forceful in defending their interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He published the brochure Josip Štadler and the Croat People's Union (Sarajevo, 1908), which was opposed by the clergy and provoked a political rift between him and the Archbishop of Vrhbosna. In his brochure, Pilar concluded that the Catholic faith had undoubtedly an exceptional role in preserving the national identity of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he believed there were certain differences between the interests of the people and the Church as an organisation. In 1910 he founded the Croat People's Union, trying to politically awaken impassive Croatian Catholics and prepare them for the incoming portentous events. When World War I started, he was still in Tuzla.
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