Frank Leskošek (

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

Luka; 9 December 1897 – 5 July 1983) was a Yugoslav politician and partisan commander.

Biography

Born in Celje, Slovenia, Leskošek worked as a locksmith in his youth. He was drafted in to the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and fought mostly in the Isonzo Front. After the war he returned to his hometown and became active in the trade union movement and participated in many strikes. Leskošek joined the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

(KPJ) and in 1926 and became a member of its Central Committee in 1934. He was secretary of the Association of Metalworkers for Slovenia and chairman of the expert commission of the United Workers' Trade Unions of Slovenia. During this period he successfully hid his KPJ membership from Yugoslav authorities. In 1935 he traveled to the Soviet Union alongside

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 ...

and became a functionary in the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

and was appointed a member of the Politburo of the KPJ in 1936 in a conference held in Moscow. After the appointment of Josip Tito as the general secretary of the KPJ, Leskošek became one of the leading members of the party. In the fourth congress of the Communist Party of Slovenia, he was elected the first secretary of the party. During the final elections in Yugoslavia he participated as a member of the United Opposition. After 1940 he avoided arrest by retiring the KPJ in time. He resumed his illegal activities and was once again elected to KPJ leadership. After the creation of the Slovene Partisan units Leskošek was appointed commander of its main staff. After the war and communist take over of Yugoslavia he remained first secretary of the KPS until 1945 and was also president of the Assembly of the Delegates of the Slovene Nation. He was Minister of Industry and Mining in the first Slovenian government. From 1948 to 1951 he was the Federal Yugoslav Minister of Heavy Industry. From 1951 to 1953 he was chairman of the Council for Industrialization of Slovenia, then until 1958 he was a member of the executive committee of the National Group of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FNRJ). From 1958 to 1963 he was vice-chairman of the People's Group of the FNRJ and from 1963 he was a member of the Federation Council. From 1945 to 1963 he was a member of the Slovenian group and from 1946 to 1953 and 1958 to 1963 of the federal group. He was a member of the executive committee of the Central Committee of the Union of Communists of Slovenia (ÚV SKS) from 1956 to 1966 and then (1966 to 1968) he was a member of the presidency of ÚV SKS. Until 1964 he was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (ÚV SKJ) and until 1969 a member of the ÚV SKJ. From 1953 he was a member of the Main Department of the Socialist Union of Working People (SSRN) of Yugoslavia and from 1967 he was a member of the presidency of the Slovenian Republican Conference of the SSRN. Leskošek died in Ljubljana on 5 July 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leskosek, Franc 1897 births 1983 deaths Slovenian communists Slovenian people of World War II Yugoslav Partisans members Ethnic Slovene people League of Communists of Yugoslavia politicians League of Communists of Slovenia politicians Yugoslav expatriates in the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Members of the Politburo of the 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia Members of the Executive Committee of the 6th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Executive Committee of the 7th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 4th Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 6th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 7th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 8th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia