Boris Kidrič (10 April 1912 – 11 April 1953) was a Slovene politician and revolutionary who was one of the chief organizers of the

Slovene Partisans The Slovene Partisans, formally the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Slovenia, (NOV in POS) were part of Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement Jeffreys-Jones, R. (2013): ''In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western ...

, the Slovene resistance against occupation by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and Fascist Italy after

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

in June 1941. He became the de facto leader of the

Liberation Front of the Slovenian People The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation ( sl, Osvobodilna fronta slovenskega naroda), or simply Liberation Front (''Osvobodilna fronta'', OF), originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front (''Protiimperialistična fronta'', PIF), was a Slovene ...

. As such, he had a crucial role in the

anti-Fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

liberation struggle in Slovenia between 1941 and 1945. After World War II he was, together with

Edvard Kardelj Edvard Kardelj (; 27 January 1910 – 10 February 1979), also known by the pseudonyms Bevc, Sperans and Krištof, was a Yugoslav politician and economist. He was one of the leading members of the Communist Party of Slovenia before World War II ...

, a leading

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 ...

n politician in

communist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

Life

Kidrič was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, then capital 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 ...

, as the son of the prominent Slovene

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

literary critic

France Kidrič France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 1953, he died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Political career

In the early 1930s, Kidrič was drafted by the communist publicist

Vlado Kozak Vlado () is a Slavic masculine given name. Notable people with the given name include: *Vlado Babić (born 1960), Serbian politician * Vlado Badžim (born 1964), Slovenian football player and football coach *Vlado Bagat (1915–1944), Croatian and ...

to join the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. He soon rose to high political posts in the Drava Banovina and was among the founders of the autonomous

Communist Party of Slovenia The League of Communists of Slovenia ( sl, Zveza komunistov Slovenije, ZKS; sh, Savez komunista Slovenije) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989. It was establis ...

in 1937. Besides

Milovan Đilas Milovan Djilas (; , ; 12 June 1911 – 30 April 1995) was a Yugoslav communist politician, theorist and author. He was a key figure in the Partisan movement during World War II, as well as in the post-war government. A self-identified democrat ...

and Ivan Milutinović, Kidrič was one of the major exponents of the policy of

leftist errors Leftist errors ( sh, leva/lijeva skretanja) was a term used by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) to describe radical policies and strategies – described as the Red Terror (''Crveni Teror'') by others – pursued by self-described Left-wi ...

. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

Slovenian National Liberation Council The Slovene National Liberation Committee (SNOS) ( sl, Slovenski narodnoosvobodilni svet; sh, Slovensko narodnooslobodilačko vijeće, Словеначко народноослободилачко веће) was formed as the highest governing organ ...

appointed him as the first president of the Slovenian socialist government and he moved into the Ebenspanger Mansion, which the communist government had confiscated from its previous Jewish owners. He became a member of the Yugoslav

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

in 1948, and was in charge of the Yugoslav economy from 1946 until his death.

Honours and awards

He was awarded the

Order of the People's Hero The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; sl, Red narodnega heroja, mk, Oрден на народен херој, Orden na ...

Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour ( sh, Orden junaka socijalističkog rada / , sl, Red junaka socialističnega dela, mk, Орден на јунак на социјалистичката работа) was the fourth highest state decoration ...

Order of the People's Liberation The Order of National Liberation ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Orden narodnog oslobođenja, Орден народног ослобођеља) was a decoration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the fifth-highest decoration in the series of Yugosla ...

and the Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941. The National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana was named after him and until 1990 the main award for scientific achievements in Slovenia was called " Kidrič Prize". Among the foreign decorations were the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

, 2nd class, the Hungarian Order of the Republic, the Bulgarian Order of the People's Freedom and the Polish Partisan Cross. After his death, the eastern Slovenian industrial town of Strnišče was renamed

Kidričevo Kidričevo () is a town near Ptuj in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kidričevo. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the Drava Statistical Region. The town is i ...

in his honour. In 1959, a large monument was erected in his honour in front of the Slovenian Government Office in Ljubljana, where it still stands despite some protests by

anti-Communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

groups and victims of Communist persecution. The Institute for Physics, near Belgrade, was renamed in his honour.

References

* Janko Prunk, "Kidrič, Boris - Peter" in ''

Enciklopedija Slovenije The ''Encyclopedia of Slovenia'' ( sl, Enciklopedija Slovenije) is a Slovene-language encyclopedia that contains topics related to Slovenia. It was published from 1987 to 2002 in 16 volumes by Mladinska knjiga in cooperation with the Slovenian ...

'' (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1987–2002), book 5, 62-63. *

Božo Repe Božo ( sr, Божо) is a South Slavic masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Božo Bakota (1950–2015), Croatian footballer *Božo Biškupić (born 1938), Croatian politician and lawyer * Božo Broketa (1922–1985), Yugosl ...

, ''Rdeča Slovenija'' (Ljubljana: Sophia, 2003). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kidric, Boris 1912 births 1953 deaths Politicians from Vienna Yugoslav Partisans members Slovenian atheists Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class League of Communists of Slovenia politicians Prime Ministers of Slovenia Slovenian socialists Ethnic Slovene people