Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/csp.v57i2.36584
Memorial Plaque to Janez/Ivan Maček: Between Politics and Nation
Ivan Smiljanić
orcid.org/0000-0001-8202-8338
; Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana, Slovenia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Janez/Ivan Maček was born in 1845. in the village of Lesično in Slovenian Styria. He built his career as a successful civil engineer who worked on many projects in Croatia. He passed away in 1933. in Zagreb. More than for his architectural achievements, he entered history as the father of Vladko Maček, the president of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and the political leader of Croats from Radić's death until World War II. Like Radić, a political cult of personality developed around Maček among his supporters, placing him as the undisputed Croatian leader. However, as he was also the leader of the United Opposition from 1935, he became a recognizable symbol of opposition to the regime of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In the second half of the 1930s, when the HSS's position had greatly strengthened, the celebration of Vladko Maček took on ever-larger proportions and extended beyond the borders of the Croatian provinces. Slovenian lawyer Rudolf Dobovišek, elected to the assembly on Maček's list in the 1935 elections, collaborated with Zagreb Slovenes and supporters of the HSS to organize the unveiling of a memorial plaque to Janez/Ivan Maček on his birthplace that same year. The bronze memorial plaque was created by the renowned Croatian sculptor Ivo Kerdić. The plaque was officially unveiled on November 3, 1935 Although the organizers wanted to portray the event as a tribute to the late engineer, and indirectly as a demonstration in honour of Vladko Maček as the leader of the peasants, it could not be hidden that the unveiling of the plaque was also a demonstration of support for the HSS and the United Opposition. Since there had been an indirect rapprochement between Maček and the Slovenian communists shortly before the events, who had begun to form a policy of creating a popular front and approaching the peasantry, the event also had the character of one of the first manifestations of the popular front in Slovenia. Slovenian newspapers reported on the event sparsely and distantly because, despite the organizers' assurances to the contrary, they perceived the unveiling of the plaque as an explicitly political and propaganda project intended to expand Maček's influence in Slovenian lands. Also, on this and many other occasions, they wrote critically and cynically about the incongruity that the Croatian political leader is the son of a Slovene. The controversial plaque stood for less than six years, and in 1941, The homeowners hid it, so it survived to this day.
Keywords
Janez/Ivan Maček; Vladko Maček; Croatian Peasant Party; Public monuments; Cult of personality; Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Hrčak ID:
341145
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2025.
Visits: 441 *