Baron Iván Skerlecz de Lomnicza (often rendered ''Ivan Škrlec Lomnički'' in Croatian; 20 July 1873 – 12 January 1951) was a Croatian '' ban'' (

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

) between 21 July 1913, until 29 June 1917. Skerlecz was born in Oroszló,

Baranya County Baranya ( hu, Baranya megye, ) is a county () in southern Hungary. It is part of the Southern Transdanubia statistical region and the historical Baranya region, which was a county (''comitatus'') in the Kingdom of Hungary dating back to the 11 ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

in 1873. He was born into

Šokci Šokci ( sh, / , italics=yes, , ; , ; hu, Sokácok) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to historical regions of Baranya, Bačka, Slavonia and Syrmia. These regions today span eastern Croatia, southwestern Hungary, and northern Serbia ...

origin aristocratic family. His father was Baron Károly Skerlecz de Lomnicza (1836–1901), high sheriff (főszolgabíró) of Baranya county, ministerial councilor; his mother was the noble lady Sarolta Hrabovszky de Hrabova (1850–1931). His parernal grandfather was Baron Károly Skerlecz de Lomnicza (1793–1863), royal chamberlain, who received the title of baron on 22 August 1857. The Hungarian prime minister

István Tisza Count István Imre Lajos Pál Tisza de Borosjenő et Szeged (archaically anglicized Stephen Emery Louis Paul Tisza, in short Stephen Tisza; 22 April 1861 – 31 October 1918) was a Hungarian politician, prime minister, political scientist, inte ...

appointed Skerlecz head of the

Austro-Hungarian 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 ...

crown land in 1913, shortly before

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 ...

. While Croatia-Slavonia was not the site of any battles, Croatian troops, fighting under the Croatian Home Guard took part in the fighting, much of it in neighbouring

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 ...

. Skerlecz managed to reconvene the Croatian

Sabor The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor ...

(parliament) in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

by 1915. The Croats made further demands for local authority, as well as unification of Croatia-Slavonia with

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 ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. Stefan Sarkotić, Austria-Hungary's commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina also sought unification of their provinces. However, Austria-Hungary's outdated political system made any shifts between areas under Hungarian or Austrian spheres of influence difficult. Skerlecz could only support the Croatians in acting autonomously. As the war progressed more Croats found the formation of a South Slav state a potentially beneficial possibility. He resigned from his post on June 29, 1917, after Tisza was ousted from power, leaving the country in no better state than when he had arrived. 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 ...

was formed the following year. Skerlecz became

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

in Kingdom of Yugoslavia, because he was known as an ardent opponent of the involvement of Croatia in the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Skerlecz had to return to Hungary where he died in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 1951.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skerlecz, Ivan 1873 births 1951 deaths People from Baranya County Hungarian politicians Bans of Croatia