Ljudevit Jurak (October 6, 1881 – June 9, 1945) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n professor of

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

who was executed by the Yugoslav government for his research into the

Vinnytsia massacre The Vinnytsia massacre was the mass execution of between 9,000 and 11,000 people in the Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia by the Soviet secret police NKVD during the Great Purge in 1937–1938, which Nazi Germany discovered during its occupation of Ukr ...

. Jurak was born in Zalug near

Hum na Sutli Hum na Sutli is a municipality in the Krapina-Zagorje County of Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are 5,060 inhabitants in the municipality, the absolute majority of which are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavi ...

. He studied medicine at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

where he graduated in 1910. In 1914 Jurak came to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

where he led the Department of Pathology at the Sisters of Charity Hospital, a post he held until his death. In 1915 Jurak and German physician Felix Gaisbock published a paper in a renowned journal Zentralblatt für Herz- und Gefässkrankheiten in which they described both Lev's and Legendre's disease half a century before its contemporaries. Jurak collaborated on

Mate Ujević Mate Ujević (13 July 1901 – 6 January 1967) was a Croatian poet and encyclopedist. Life Ujević was born in Krivodol (part of Podbablje near Imotski) in the Kingdom of Dalmatia (present-day Croatia). He received his secondary education ...

's '' Croatian Encyclopedia''. In 1943, Jurak was among those invited by the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

to take part in an investigation into the massacre of ethnic Ukrainians at

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. ...

in the 1930s. This investigation concluded that the Soviet Union had been responsible for the massacre. He also commented on the Soviet responsibility for the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

. His article about it was published in the Zagreb newspaper run by the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

. When

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the US ...

ended, OZNA had Jurak killed by firing squad in Zagreb in June 1945. Since the democratic changes in 1990, the ''Ljudevit Jurak Clinical Department of Pathology'' in Zagreb has borne his name.Ljudevit Jurak Clinical Department of Pathology

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References

Ljudevit Jurak - Our wound and pride
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurak, Ljudevit Croatian pathologists 1881 births 1945 deaths People executed by Yugoslavia by firing squad

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