Drago Marušič (10 December 1884 – 30 September 1964) was a

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n and Yugoslav politician and jurist. Born in Opatje Selo in present-day western Slovenia, Marušič studied law at Universities of

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, where he graduated in 1911. During World War I he escaped to the Russian side and joined a volunteer legion in Serbia. Then, as a member of the

Yugoslav Committee Yugoslav Committee ( sh-Latn, Jugoslavenski odbor, sr-Cyrl, Југословенски одбор) was a political interest group formed by South Slavs from Austria-Hungary during World War I aimed at joining the existing south Slavic nations in ...

he worked in Rome, in the United States, and finally in Paris, where he attended the 1919 Peace Conference along with

Ante Trumbić Ante Trumbić (17 May 1864 – 17 November 1938) was a Yugoslav and Croatian lawyer and politician in the early 20th century. Biography Trumbić was born in Split in the Austrian crownland of Dalmatia and studied law at Zagreb, Vienna and Gra ...

. He was a member of the

Independent Agrarian Party The Independent Agrarian Party ( sl, Samostojna kmetijska stranka, SKS) was a Slovenian political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was active between 1919 and 1926, when it merged with the Slovenian Agrarian Labour Republica ...

(SKS), and later a member of the

Yugoslav National Party The Yugoslav National Party ( sh, Jugoslavenska nacionalna stranka, Југославенска национална странка, JNS; sl, Jugoslovanska nacionalna stranka), established as Yugoslav Radical Peasants' Democracy ( sh, Jugoslavensk ...

(JNS). After the

January 6th Dictatorship The 6 January Dictatorship ( sr-cyr, Шестојануарска диктатура, Šestojanuarska diktatura; hr, Šestosiječanjska diktatura; sl, Šestojanuarska diktatura) was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croa ...

was established by King Alexander in 1929, first he was appointed to the Supreme Legislative Council, and in December 1930 Marušič was made Ban of the

Drava Banovina The Drava Banovina or Drava Banate ( Slovene and Serbo-Croatian: ''Dravska banovina''), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. This province consisted of most of present-day Slovenia and was named for the Dra ...

province. In December 1934 he became a minister in the government cabinet of

Bogoljub Jevtić Bogoljub Jevtić (Serbian Cyrillic: Богољуб Јевтић; 24 December 1886 – 7 June 1960) was a Serbian diplomat and politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He was plenipotentiary minister of Yugoslavia in Albania, Austria and Hungary. ...

. In the 1935 general election he was elected to the post of Senator, after which he became a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. Following the April 1941

Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...

he became a high-ranking member of the

Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation ( sl, Osvobodilna fronta slovenskega naroda), or simply Liberation Front (''Osvobodilna fronta'', OF), originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front (''Protiimperialistična fronta'', PIF), was a Slovene ...

(OF), and from 1942 he was interred in Italy. After the

capitulation of Italy The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

in 1943, he was released and became a member of the regional branches of OF and the

Slovene National Liberation Committee The Slovene National Liberation Committee (SNOS) ( sl, Slovenski narodnoosvobodilni svet; sh, Slovensko narodnooslobodilačko vijeće, Словеначко народноослободилачко веће) was formed as the highest governing organ ...

(SNOS) in the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Ad ...

region. From 1944 to 1945 he was justice minister in the

Yugoslav government-in-exile The Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Exile ( sh, Vlada Kraljevine Jugoslavije u egzilu / Влада Краљевине Југославије у егзилу) was an official government of Yugoslavia, headed by King Peter II. It evacu ...

Ivan Šubašić Ivan Šubašić (; 7 May 1892 – 22 March 1955) was a Yugoslav Croat politician, best known as the last Ban of Croatia and prime minister of the royalist Yugoslav Government in exile during the Second World War. Early life He was born in Vuk ...

, and later served in the unified government of the

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, also known as Democratic Federative Yugoslavia (DF Yugoslavia or DFY), was a provisional state established during World War II on 29 November 1943 through the Second Session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the Nation ...

led by

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

until January 1948. After the Second World War, he held the post of president of the

Slovenian Red Cross The Slovenian Red Cross ( sl, Rdeči križ Slovenije) is a non-government and non-profit humanitarian organisation, part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It was established in Gradac in June 1944, at first as part of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marusic, Drago 1884 births 1964 deaths People from the Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica People from Gorizia Government ministers of Yugoslavia Slovenian politicians Yugoslav lawyers Independent Agrarian Party politicians Bans of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia