Josip Križaj (13 March 1911 – 8 October 1948), also known by the Italianized name ''Giuseppe Krizai'', nicknamed ''Pepi'', was a Slovene ( Yugoslav) military pilot and a veteran of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Križaj was born in

Kopriva Kopriva may refer to: Places * Kopriva, Razkrižje, a small settlement in the Municipality of Razkrižje in eastern Slovenia * Kopriva, Sežana, a village in the Municipality of Sežana in the Littoral region of Slovenia * Kopriva Peak, rocky peak ...

on the

Karst Plateau The Karst Plateau or the Karst region (, ), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the val ...

, then part of the

Austro-Hungarian 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 between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

county of

Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (; ; ), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled "Goritz", was a crown land of the Habsburg dynasty within the Austrian Littoral on the Adriatic Sea, in what is now a multilingual border area of ...

. After

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 ...

, the region became part of 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 ...

and Križaj became an Italian citizen. Already at a young age he showed a passion for flight, which led him to pursue a pilot's course at the royal officer school in

Capua Capua ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, located on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan ''Capeva''. The ...

near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Due to his Slovene ethnic origins, he was not allowed into the regular Italian Royal Air Force, but he was nevertheless granted a place in the reserves. Because of the physical hardships endured during the training and his pro-

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 ...

n and pro-Yugoslav national political stance, he flew a Fiat AS.1 airplane on 25 June 1932 from

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, crossing the border of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, which led to much media interest. In 1934, he became a Yugoslav citizen. Following the outbreak of the

, he joined the Yugoslav volunteers that fought on the side of the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

. He was a member of the Squadron España, and was shot down once and captured during the war. After his return to Yugoslavia, he moved to

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, where he lived during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he became a

SFR Yugoslav Air Force The Air Force and Air Defence ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Ратно ваздухопловство и противваздушна одбрана, Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana ; abbr. sh-Cyrl-Latn, label=none, separator=/, РВ и ПВ� ...

military pilot. His life ended on 8 October 1948, when his aircraft, a

Yakovlev Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian language, Russian: Яковлев Як-3) is a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet Union, Soviet fighter aircraft, fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glan ...

, crashed into Mount Snežnik in southwestern Slovenia because of poor visibility in dense fog. Today, the

Ajdovščina Ajdovščina (; ,trilingual name "Haidenschaft, Aidussina, Ajdovščina" inGemeindelexikon, der im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche und Länder. Bearbeit auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Herausgegeben von der K. ...

Flying Club is named after Josip Križaj, and there is a monument to him at

Portorož Airport Portorož Airport () is the smallest of three international airports in Slovenia. It is located near the village of Sečovlje, south of Portorož, and less than from the Croatian border. The airport was opened on 27 September 1962. In additio ...

Sources

* Stanonik, Tončka, Brenk, Lan: ''Osebnostiː veliki slovenski biografski leksikon'', Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana, 2008 * Kladnik, Darinka: ''Zgodovina letalstva na Slovenskem'', ZIP - Zavod za intelektualno produkcijo, Ljubljana, 2008 * Emiliani, Angelo: ''Italiani Nell'Aviazione Repubblicana Spagnola'', Edizioni Aeronautiche Italiane S.r.l., 1980. * Matyáš, Svatopluk: Stíhačky nad Španělskem 1936–1939, Svět křídel, Cheb 1998. * Polák, T.: Esa meziválečného období - Part II, in ''Plastic Kits revue'', no. 44, 1995. * Žirochov, Michail: "Krasnyj" italjanec, ''Aviacija i vremja'', no. 2, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Krizaj, Josip 1911 births 1948 deaths Slovenian aviators Yugoslav people of the Spanish Civil War Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Slovenian flying aces Shot-down aviators Yugoslav prisoners of war People from the Municipality of Sežana Spanish Civil War prisoners of war Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1948 Italian defectors Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Yugoslavia Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Slovenia