Jakša Račić (5 August 1868 – 23 August 1943) was the Mayor of Split between February 1929 and June 1933. An ethnic Croat in modern terms, he was a supporter of King Alexander I's unitarianist policies, and considered himself a Yugoslav and a

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

n. He was a

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

by profession and one of the few non-

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

members of the

Chetnik movement The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...

. Račić was born on 5 August 1868 in Vrbanj (part of Stari Grad) on the island of Hvar in the Kingdom of Dalmatia and studied in Prague,

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

and

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, where he attained a doctorate in 1900. He was employed in Innsbruck as an assistant at the Institute for General and Experimental Pathology, undertook further training in Ljubljana and became Director of his own surgical sanatorium in Split in 1904, the Račić Sanatorium. He oversaw the start of hospital modernization in the city, and began the forestation of Marjan hill.

World War II and assassination

At the beginning of World War II Račić was appointed by

Draža Mihailović Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Дража Михаиловић; 27 April 1893 – 17 July 1946) was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetniks, Chetnik Detachments ...

Chetnik The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...

''Povjerenik'' ("trustee") for

. Račić worked closely with Chetnik military commander Ilija Trifunović-Birčanin. Račić was executed for treason by the Partisans when, after the Italian capitulation in 1943, they temporarily liberated Split from Italian occupation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Racic, Jaksa 1868 births 1943 deaths People from Stari Grad, Croatia People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia Yugoslav National Party politicians Chetniks Mayors of Split, Croatia World War II political leaders Physicians from Split, Croatia Charles University alumni University of Graz alumni University of Innsbruck alumni University of Ljubljana alumni Executed politicians Executed Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany People from Austria-Hungary