Ivan Šusteršič, also spelled Šušteršič (29 May 1863 – 7 October 1925) 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 ...

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

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 ...

. He was born in the

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 ...

n town of Ribnica, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

(now in

). His brother was the Austro-Hungarian Rear Admiral Alois Schusterschitz (Alojz Šusteršič), who participated in the Boxer war of 1900 and in the Peace Treaty negotiations in Paris in 1919. After finishing grammar school in 1881, he enrolled in 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 ...

, where he studied law. In 1890, he was among the co-founders of the Catholic Political Society 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 ...

and in 1896, he was elected to the Austrian Parliament. From 1899, he was a member of the Catholic National Party, later renamed to

Slovene People's Party The Slovenian People's Party ( sl, Slovenska ljudska stranka, , Slovene abbreviation SLS ) is a conservative, agrarian, Christian-democratic political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first democ ...

. In the Parliament, he served as president of the Slovene Parliamentary Club from 1907. Between 1909 and 1911, he was president of the largest opposition coalition, the Slovene Union, and between 1912 and 1914, he was president of the Croat and Slovene Parliamentary Club. In 1912, he was named Governor of the Duchy of Carniola. In 1914 Šusteršič called for violence against Serbs in the aftermath of the

Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo The anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo consisted of large-scale anti-Serb violence in Sarajevo on 28 and 29 June 1914 following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Encouraged by the Austro-Hungarian government, the violent demonstrations ass ...

. He remained Governor of the Duchy of Carniola until October 1918, when he left for

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

after a dispute in the Slovene People’s Party: in contrast to party's mainstream, he rejected the creation of an independent State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, favoring the federalization of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire 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 ...

, instead. He returned to

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

in December 1922, founding the National People's Party in elections in 1923. He was defeated, gaining less than 2% of the vote, and thereafter withdrew from politics.

References

Sources

*Grdina, Igor. "Nekaj opazk o Šušteršičevi politiki pred in med prvo svetovno vojno". ''Zgodovinski časopis'' 53 (1999). 351-365. * Pleterski, Janko. ''Dr. Ivan Šušteršič, 1863-1925 : Pot prvaka slovenskega političnega katolicizma''. Ljubljana, 1998. * Rahten, Andrej. "Zadnji slovenski avstrijakant : Prispevek k politični biografiji dr. Ivana Šusteršiča". ''Zgodovinski časopis'' 53 (1999). 195-208. * * Šušteršič, Ivan. ''Moj odgovor''. Ljubljana, 1922. 1863 births 1925 deaths People from Ribnica, Ribnica Carniolan people Slovenian Roman Catholics Slovene People's Party (historical) politicians Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1891–1897) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1897–1900) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1901–1907) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1907–1911) Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1911–1918) Members of the Diet of the Duchy of Carniola Yugoslav politicians 20th-century Slovenian lawyers Carniolan lawyers Anti-Serbian sentiment University of Vienna alumni {{Slovenia-politician-stub