Marko Jelić (born 15 March 1976) is a Croatian politician and university professor who is serving as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Šibenik-Knin County Šibenik-Knin County (; hr, Šibensko-kninska županija ) is a county in southern Croatia, located in the north-central part of Dalmatia. The biggest city in the county is Šibenik, which also serves as county seat. Other notable towns in the co ...

since 2021. He previously served as Mayor of

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Born in

in 1976, Jelić finished elementary school and the first two grades of high school in his native town, while in 1994 he completed the final two grades at the Juraj Baraković High School in

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

. In 2000 he graduated in

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

at the

Faculty of Science Faculty may refer to: * Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States) * Faculty (instrument), an instrument or warrant ...

of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

, earning the title of

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

. In 2003 he received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Molecular Biology and

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

from the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

and

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

Career

Jelić started his career in 2004 as a senior associate for new technologies at the Center for Entrepreneurship of the City of

. In 2005 he was appointed interim and in October 2007 permanent dean of the

Marko Marulić Marko Marulić Splićanin (), in Latin Marcus Marulus Spalatensis (18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), was a Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist who coined the term "psychology". He is the national poet of Croatia. According to ...

Polytechnic in Knin. He held that position for four years, in parallel with the president of the Council of Polytechnics and Higher Education Institutions of the

Republic of 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 ...

. In 2012 he was appointed director for Management and Development of Matica d.o.o. in Knin and the year before he became the head of the Innovation Center and vice dean for development, scientific and professional cooperation at the Marko Marulić Polytechnic in Knin. From 2015 to 2016 he was the acting dean of the ASPIRA College of Management and Design in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

, and since 2005 he has been a full teacher of

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Plant Physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology (structure of plants), plant ecology (interactions with the environment), phytochemistry (bi ...

Environmental Protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

and

Hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

at the Marko Marulić Polytechnic in Knin.

Political career

In the 2017 local elections as a member of his own independent list (Dr. Marko Jelić's Independent List), Jelić defeated his opponent and former

HDZ The Croatian Democratic Union ( hr, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica, lit=Croatian Democratic Community, HDZ) is the major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Cro ...

mayor of Knin, Josipa Rimac, in the runoff. On 20 March 2021, Jelić confirmed his candidacy for

in the 2021 local elections which will be held on 16 May. His candidacy was supported by all independent mayors in the county, as well as by Independent List Stipe Petrina, whose member, Iris Ukić Kotarac, was selected as the candidate for deputy prefect. On 16 May, Jelić won the first round of elections, winning 36.52% and thus securing a place in the runoff against the incumbent prefect,

Goran Pauk Goran Pauk (born 23 April 1962) is a Croatian politician who served as Prefect of Šibenik-Knin County from 2006 to 2021. He has been the longest-serving prefect of the county since Croatia's independence in 1991. Before entering politics, he wa ...

of the HDZ. As well Jelić won by a slim margin of 187 votes over incumbent prefect and advanced to the runoff, the candidate list of the group of voters gathered around Jelić won six seats in the county assembly. In the second round held two weeks later, he was elected Prefect of Šibenik-Knin County, winning 25,458 votes against Pauk's 16,366, making him the first

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

prefect of the county and the first prefect of the county not elected from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). He officially took over the duties of prefect on 4 June 2021.

References

External links

Official website

dr. sc. Marko Jelić
at Grad Knin
Marko Jelić
at Gradonačelnik.hr 1975 births Living people Independent politicians in Croatia Mayors of Knin {{s-end