Ante Nikšić (8 June 1892 – 28 January 1962) 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 lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia between 1942 and 1943.

Early life

Nikšić was born in

Gospić Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

in Croatian region of Lika. He attended high school in Gospić. Nikšić 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 hist ...

and at the

Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb The Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb ( hr, Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis, Facultas Iuridica, PFZG) is the law school of the University of Zagreb. Founded in 1776 by Empress Maria Theres ...

where he gained the title of

doctor of law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...

. As a student, he was member of the Party of Right's youth organization and was the president of "Kvaternik" club and of the students' support society. After he left university he worked as a judge in Gospić and

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 ...

, and later worked as a lawyer in

Vukovar Vukovar () ( sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, hu, Vukovár, german: Wukowar) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern region of Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube. Vukovar is the seat of ...

. In Vukovar, he was an editor of local newspaper of the Croatian Union, and later the newspaper of the Croatian Bloc during the 1925 elections, after which he worked as a judge in such regions as

Jastrebarsko Jastrebarsko (; hu, Jaska), colloquially known as Jaska, is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. History Antiquity In 1865, remnants of a Roman settlement were uncovered in Repišće, Klinča Sela, a village in Jastrebarsko metropolitan are ...

Ivanec Ivanec is a town in northern Croatia, located southwest of Varaždin and east of Lepoglava, north of the mountain Ivanščica. History In the late 19th and early 20th century, Ivanec was a district capital in the Varaždin County of the Kingdom ...

and Karlovac, where he became President of the Karlovac Municipal Court and later President of the Judicial Table, a district court.

Independent State of Croatia

As a President of the Judicial Table, Nikšić saw the collapse of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

and establishment of 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 ...

(NDH). He was a member of the ''

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Move ...

'' organization even before the war. After the NDH was proclaimed, he helped to organize the new state institutions in Karlovac.

Ante Pavelić Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, l ...

, while he was on his way to Zagreb from Italy, stayed in Ante Nikšić's home for two days and there received the German envoy

Edmund Veesenmayer Edmund Veesenmayer (12 November 1904 – 24 December 1977) was a high-ranking German SS functionary and Holocaust-perpetrator during the Nazi era. He significantly contributed to the Holocaust in Hungary and in the Independent State of Croatia ...

and Benito Mussolini's envoy Filippo Anfuso. In June 1941, Nikšić was named Prefect of Pokuplje District. In mid-March 1942 he started to work for the Ministry of Interior. A month later, he was named envoy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On 10 October 1942, Nikšić was named Minister of Interior, succeeding

Andrija Artuković Andrija Artuković (19 November 1899 – 16 January 1988) was a Croatian lawyer, politician, and senior member of the ultranationalist and fascist Ustasha movement, who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Justice in ...

. He worked as a minister until 29 April 1943. After that, he was an ambassador to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

until middle December 1943. From Italy he returned to Zagreb where he again worked in the Ministry of Interior.

Emigration

At the beginning of May 1945, at the end of the war, he was abroad, so after the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia in May 1945, he fled to Argentina where he lived in Pilar, not far from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. In Argentina, Nikšić wrote for the Croatian émigré magazine, ''

Hrvatska revija ''Hrvatska revija'' ( en, Croatian Review or HR) is a Croatian quarterly published by Matica hrvatska (MH) based in Zagreb. History and profile The magazine's original run lasted between 1928 and 1945 when it was published by MH and during which ...

''. He died in Pilar, aged 69.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niksic, Ante 1892 births 1962 deaths People from Gospić People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Party of Rights politicians Ustaše Government ministers of the Independent State of Croatia Croatian lawyers Croatian emigrants to Argentina University of Vienna alumni Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni Croatian nationalists Ambassadors of Croatia to Italy Yugoslav lawyers