Gregor Žerjav, sometimes spelled Žerjal (14 November 1882 – 27 June 1929), was a Slovene and Yugoslav

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Together with Albert Kramer, he was the leader of the Slovenian liberals in the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

Youth and schooling

Gregor Zerjav was born in Lož in

Inner Carniola Inner Carniola ( sl, Notranjska; german: Innerkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the southwestern part of the larger Carniola region. It comprises the Hrušica karst plateau up to Postojna Gate, bordering the Slovenian Littoral (the ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(now in Slovenia). He studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, graduating in 1906.

Political career

In 1908, Gregor Zerjav became the chief coordinator of the National Progressive Party in

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

. Despite his young age, he became one of the main financial advisors of the Slovene national liberal political establishment. In 1910, he became notorious for his involvement in the bankruptcy of the Agro Merkur credit bank, established a few years earlier as a financial institution supporting the National Progressive Party. In 1911, he was elected to the

Austrian parliament The Austrian Parliament (german: Österreichisches Parlament) is the bicameral federal legislature of the Austrian Republic. It consists of two chambers – the National Council and the Federal Council. In specific cases, both houses convene ...

, where he became the leader of the 'Yugoslav Club', a

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

South Slav South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, Hun ...

national liberal representatives from the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( sl, Slovenske dežele or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provinc ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

, and

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

. After the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Žerjav launched an underground network which was working against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in favour of the creation of a unified

Yugoslav state Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Among his closest collaborators in this endeavour were two other radical liberal nationalists from the younger generation, Albert Kramer and

Bogumil Vošnjak Bogumil Vošnjak, also known as Bogomil Vošnjak (9 September 1882 – 18 June 1955), was a Slovene and Yugoslav jurist, politician, diplomat, author, and legal historian. He often wrote under the pseudonym Illyricus. Biography He was bor ...

.Igor Grdina, ''Slovenci med tradicijo in perspektivo'' (Ljubljana: Študentska založba, 2003), 251. The Austro-Hungarian authorities never disclosed the network. However, already in the first moths of the war, Žerjav was preventively arrested and imprisoned in

Ljubljana Castle Ljubljana Castle ( sl, Ljubljanski grad, german: Laibacher Schloss) is a castle complex standing on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is a key landmark of the town. Originally a medieval fortress, it was probably ...

for his "notorious pro-

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n attitudes". He was released after less than a month. In May 1915, when his colleague Bogumil Vošnjak fled to the west in order to join 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 ...

, Žerjav was again arrested and put into custody in the town of Gmund and later in

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 ...

, where he spent most of the war. After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Žerjav was part of the delegation of Austro-Hungarian South Slavs which in December 1918 signed the declaration establishing the

. After 1918, Žerjav became a fervent supporter of Yugoslav centralism and unitarism. In June 1918, he was among the co-founders of the

Yugoslav Democratic Party The Yugoslav Democratic Party, ''State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats'' and Democratic Party, also known as the Democratic Union was the name of a series of liberal political parties that existed in succession in the State of S ...

, which in 1919 merged into the

State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats The Yugoslav Democratic Party, ''State Party of Serbian, Croatian and Slovene Democrats'' and Democratic Party, also known as the Democratic Union was the name of a series of liberal political parties that existed in succession in the State of Sl ...

. He was elected to the Yugoslav parliament for three consecutive terms, in 1920, 1925, and 1927 (the first time as representative of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, and the last two on the list of the Independent Democratic Party. From December 1921 to December 1922, he served as the Minister for Welfare, and between November 1924 and July 1925 as Minister of Forestry and Mining in the Democratic-

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

coalition governments of

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical P ...

Private life

Gregor Žerjav was married to Milena Žerjav, née Lavrenčič. The couple had three children, first Borut, then the twins Nadina and Tatjana (born 5 March 1912 in Gorizia). The last years of his life he suffered tuberculosis; for an attempt of operative surgery he went to Berlin to the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

as one of the first patients of

Ferdinand Sauerbruch Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch (; 3 July 1875 – 2 July 1951) was a Nazi Germany, German surgery, surgeon. His major work was on the use of negative-pressure chambers for surgery. Biography Sauerbruch was born in Barmen (now a district of Wu ...

when using the

iron lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator (NPV), a mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body, and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space, to stimulate breathing.Shneerson, Dr. John M., Newmarket General ...

there. About half a year later he died in his estate in Poljče near

Radovljica Radovljica (; german: Radmannsdorf) is a town in the Upper Carniola region of northern Slovenia. It is the administrative seat of the Municipality of Radovljica. Geography The town is located on the southern slope of the Karawanks mountain ra ...

, and was buried in

Žale Žale Central Cemetery ( sl, Centralno pokopališče Žale), often simply Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad District and operated by the Žale Public Company. History The ce ...

Cemetery in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

. His wife and this daughter Tatjana also died of tuberculosis later on. His son Borut Žerjav became a journalist and lived in Paris. His daughter Nadina Abarth-Žerjav was married to

Carlo Abarth Carlo Abarth (15 November 1908 – 24 October 1979), born Karl Albert Abarth, was an Italian automobile designer. Abarth was born in Austria, but later was naturalized as an Italian citizen; and at this time his first name Karl Albert was chang ...

. The family's grave site in

Cemetery is a protected monument

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zerjav, Gregor 1882 births 1929 deaths People from the Municipality of Loška Dolina National Progressive Party (Carniola) politicians Democratic Party (Yugoslavia) politicians Independent Democratic Party (Yugoslavia) politicians Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1911–1918) Representatives in the Yugoslav National Assembly (1921–1941) 20th-century Slovenian lawyers University of Vienna alumni Burials at Žale Yugoslav lawyers