József Klekl Jr. ( 3 March 1879 – 24 September 1936) was a Slovene writer, journalist, and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, later in

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; ) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally, and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarians in Slovenia, Hungarian minority, lying betwee ...

(the Slovene March). Klekl was born in

Krajna Krajna is a forested historical region in the north of Greater Poland in Poland, situated in the border area between the Greater Poland, Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Pomeranian Voivodeships. The region consists of parts of Złotów, Piła, Sęp� ...

, near Tišina, the son of András Klekl and Anna Lülik. András Klekl's brother was István Klekl, the father of József Klekl, who was a Slovene politician and also a Catholic priest. The grandfather of the Klekl brothers, Anton Klekl, was of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent from

Prlekija Prlekija is a region in northeastern Slovenia between the Drava and Mura rivers. It comprises the eastern part of the Slovene Hills (), stretching from the border with Austria to the border with Croatia. It is part of the traditional province of ...

. Klekl was ordained on 27 June 1902 in

Szombathely } Szombathely (; ; also see #Etymology, names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas County in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams ''Perint'' and '' ...

. For four years he was a curate in Sveti Jurij, near Rogašovci, one year in

Rechnitz Rechnitz (, , Romani: ''Rochonca'') is a municipality in Burgenland in the Oberwart district in Austria. Geography The municipality is located in southern Burgenland, on the border with Hungary, near Bozsok and Szombathely. The highest mount ...

among the

Burgenland Croats Burgenland Croats (, , , ) are ethnic Croats in the Austrian state of Burgenland, along with Croats in neighboring Hungary and Slovakia. Around 320,000 residents of Austria identify as of Croat heritage; 56,785 have, as sole or multiple natio ...

, three years in Turnišče, and one year in

Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; ;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. ) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Murska Sob ...

. By 1911 he was priest in Dolenci, where he died in 1936. From 1906 to 1919 he served as the editor of the

Prekmurje Slovene Prekmurje Slovene, also known as the Prekmurje dialect, Eastern Slovene, or Wendish (, , Prekmurje Slovene: ''prekmürski jezik, prekmürščina, prekmörščina, prekmörski jezik, panonska slovenščina''), is the language of Prekmurje in Easte ...

almanac ''Kalendar Srca Jezušovoga'', and from 1918 to 1919 was the editor of the newspaper ''Novine.'' In 1918 he supported the program for an autonomous Slovene March ''(Slovenska krajina)'' 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 ...

. 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 ...

he supported the use of the Prekmurje dialect. His articles were highly critical of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. There is a statue of Klekl near St. Nicholas's Church in Dolenci.

Literature

* Géfin Gyula A Szombathelyi Egyházmegye története: 1777-1935 III. kötet,

Martineum Ny., 1935. * Stopinje 2003, Murska Sobota 2002.
Franc Kuzmič: Bibliografija Jožefa Klekla mlajšega

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klekl, Jozsef 1879 births 1936 deaths People from the Municipality of Tišina 20th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests Slovenian writers and poets in Hungary Slovenian politicians Slovenian anti-communists

See also

Literature

References