Marko Jelić (born 15 March 1976) is a Croatian politician and university professor who is serving as

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Šibenik-Knin County Šibenik-Knin County (; ) is a county in southern Croatia, located in the north-central part of Dalmatia. The biggest city in the county is Šibenik, which also serves as county seat. Other notable towns in the county are Knin, Vodice, Drniš a ...

since 2021. He previously served as Mayor of

Knin Knin () is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka (Croatia), Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagreb and Split, Croatia, Split. ...

from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Born in

in 1976, Jelić finished elementary school and the first two grades of high school in his native town, while in 1994 he completed the final two grades at the Juraj Baraković High School in

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. In 2000 he graduated in

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

at the Faculty of Science of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

, earning the title of

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

. In 2003 he received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Molecular Biology and

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

from the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

and

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

Career

Jelić started his career in 2004 as a senior associate for new technologies at the Center for Entrepreneurship of the City of

. In 2005 he was appointed interim and in October 2007 permanent dean of the

Marko Marulić Marko Marulić Splićanin (; ; 18 August 1450 – 5 January 1524), was a Croatian poet, lawyer, judge, and Renaissance humanist. He is the national poet of Croatia. According to George J. Gutsche, Marulić's epic poem '' Judita'' "is the first ...

Polytechnic in Knin. He held that position for four years, in parallel with the president of the Council of Polytechnics and Higher Education Institutions of the

Republic of Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mont ...

. In 2012 he was appointed director for Management and Development of Matica d.o.o. in Knin and the year before he became the head of the Innovation Center and vice dean for development, scientific and professional cooperation at the Marko Marulić Polytechnic in Knin. From 2015 to 2016 he was the acting dean of the ASPIRA College of Management and Design in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, and since 2005 he has been a full teacher of

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Plant Physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Plant physiologists study fundamental processes of plants, such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, plant hormone functions, tr ...

Environmental Protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

and

Hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

at the Marko Marulić Polytechnic in Knin.

Political career

In the 2017 local elections as a member of his own independent list (Dr. Marko Jelić's Independent List), Jelić defeated his opponent and former HDZ mayor of Knin, Josipa Rimac, in the runoff. On 20 March 2021, Jelić confirmed his candidacy for

in the 2021 local elections which will be held on 16 May. His candidacy was supported by all independent mayors in the county, as well as by Independent List Stipe Petrina, whose member, Iris Ukić Kotarac, was selected as the candidate for deputy prefect. On 16 May, Jelić won the first round of elections, winning 36.52% and thus securing a place in the runoff against the incumbent prefect, Goran Pauk of the HDZ. As well Jelić won by a slim margin of 187 votes over incumbent prefect and advanced to the runoff, the candidate list of the group of voters gathered around Jelić won six seats in the county assembly. In the second round held two weeks later, he was elected Prefect of Šibenik-Knin County, winning 25,458 votes against Pauk's 16,366, making him the first

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

prefect of the county and the first prefect of the county not elected from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). He officially took over the duties of prefect on 4 June 2021.

References

External links

Official website

dr. sc. Marko Jelić
at Grad Knin
Marko Jelić
at Gradonačelnik.hr 1975 births Living people Independent politicians in Croatia Mayors of Knin University of Zagreb alumni Prefects of counties in Croatia {{s-end