Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti | |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Maribor, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, Yugoslavia |
January 7, 1948
Political party | Slovene National Party |
Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti (born on January 7, 1948) is a Slovenian nationalist politician and author. He is the head of the Slovenian National Party (Slovene: Slovenska Nacionalna Stranka, SNS).
Jelinčič was born in the eastern Slovenian city of Maribor in what was then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As a teenager, he moved with his family to the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, where he attended the Poljane Grammar School. He studied pharmacy at the University of Ljubljana, but later dropped out. He obtained his degree some thirty years later from University of Skopje, Macedonia. During his student years, he also worked as a ballet dancer in the Ljubljana opera house.
In March 1991, he founded the Slovenian National Party, which won more than 11% of votes in the first elections to the Slovenian National Assembly in 1992.
Jelinčič was a candidate in the 2002 Presidential Elections and polled 8.49% of the first-round vote, coming third among nine candidates. He ran in the 2007 election as well, finishing 4th and winning almost 20% of the vote.