Ivan Maček, nom de guerre Matija (28 May 1908 – 10 July 1993), was a
Yugoslav Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
politician from
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
who served as the
President of the People's Assembly of SR Slovenia from 1963 to 1967.
Biography
Maček was born in
Spodnja Zadobrova near
Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
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,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(now in
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
). He became a member of 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 ...
in 1930, and in 1935 was sent to the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
where he studied at the International Lenin School,
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. He returned to Yugoslavia in 1937 and became a member of the
Central committee of the newly found
Communist party of Slovenia
The League of Communists of Slovenia (, ZKS; ) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. It was established in April 1937 as the Communist Party of Slovenia and was ...
. Yugoslav police detained him in 1938 and he was sentenced to four years in prison in
Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava, Sava river. , the city has a total population of 36,764 inhabitants, while its adminis ...
.
After the
invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...
in 1941, he and a group of 32 other communist political prisoners escaped from the prison and joined the
Yugoslav partisan resistance. In 1942 he was sent to occupied Slovenia to be one of commanders of the
Slovene partisan resistance. There he was appointed commander of the Main Headquarters of the Partisan Units of Slovenia and
political commissar of the Main headquarters during 1942. Maček was appointed the rank of general-major and became a member of the
Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation
The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation (), or simply Liberation Front (''Osvobodilna fronta'', OF), originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front (''Protiimperialistična fronta'', PIF), was a Slovene anti-fascist political party. The Anti-Imp ...
in 1944.
After the war, Maček moved into a mansion that had been confiscated from the pharmacist Leo Bahovec. Maček was minister of the interior and vice-president of the Slovene government (1945–1953), vice-president of the Executive council of PR Slovenia and a member of the
Federal Executive Council (1953–1963) and also the
President of the People's Assembly of SR Slovenia (1963–1967). He was also a deputy in the
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
and
Federal Assembly.
He died in
Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
, image_skyline = {{multiple image
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, perrow = 1/2/2/1
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, Slovenia on 10 July 1993 due to heart failure.
Maček was declared a
People's Hero of Yugoslavia
The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...
in 1952.
Controversy
According to historian
Jože Dežman, chairman of the
Commission on Concealed Mass Graves in Slovenia, Ivan Maček is among the most responsible for the
post-war extrajudicial killings of the captured nazis and their collaborators in Slovenia.
Family
His cousin was
Pepca Kardelj, spouse of the prominent Slovene politician
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 ...
.
[Strle, Franci. 1980. ''Tomšičeva brigada: Uvodni del''. Ljubljana: Partizanska knjiga, p. 146.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macek, Ivan
1908 births
1993 deaths
People from the Urban Municipality of Ljubljana
Members of the Presidency of the 8th Congress of the League of Communists 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
League of Communists of Slovenia politicians
Yugoslav Partisans members
Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero
Recipients of the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour