Ante Nikšić (8 June 1892 – 28 January 1962) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

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 in Croatian region of

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

. He attended high school in Gospić. Nikšić studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb where he gained the title of doctor of law. 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 (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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, and later worked as a lawyer in

Vukovar Vukovar (; sr-Cyrl, Вуковар, , ) is a city in Croatia, in the eastern Regions of Croatia, regions of Syrmia and Slavonia. It contains Croatia's largest river port, located at the confluence of the Vuka (river), Vuka and the Danube. Vukova ...

. 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, Ivanec and

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

, 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 was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

and establishment of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

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

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

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

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

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

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

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, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. In Argentina, Nikšić wrote for the Croatian émigré magazine, '' Hrvatska revija''. 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 members Government ministers of the Independent State of Croatia Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany Croatian exiles Croatian lawyers Croatian expatriates in Argentina University of Vienna alumni Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni Ambassadors of Croatia to Italy Yugoslav lawyers