Original scientific paper
Stjepan Radić's Sympathiser from the Esplanade Hotel A Contribution to a Political Biography of the Reverend Dr. Ljudevit Kežman (1927-28)
Zlatko MATIJEVIĆ
; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb
Abstract
The Catholic priest and politician Dr. Ljudevit (Lujo) Kežman was a
secretary of the main committee of the Croatian Peasant Party (CPP)
between 1919 and 1927. Although he was considered to be one of the
closest associates of Stjepan Radić, president of CPP, it was him who — in
the second half of 1927 — opposed certain moves made by the party
leadership. Scarce and sometimes vague information in various party's and
non-party's newspapers (in the main centres of the then Kingdom of Serbs,
Croats and Slovenes, i.e. the cities of Zagreb, Belgrade, Ljubljana and
Sarajevo) suggests that Dr. Kežman, together with certain party’s
sympathisers, attempted to influence Stjepan Radić to make certain essential
political changes in the leadership of the CPP. Although the then
newspaper stories were most sensational, the dispute was solved in only
several days, but the public never learned about the true reasons behind it.
Still, behind the political scenes, it was noted that Radić — for the first time
in his years-long political career — somewhat yielded to the demands of
the malcontents within his party. After the assassination and the tragic
death of Stjepan Radić’s (1928) Dr. Kežman left his homeland and
continued with his political activities throughout Europe. He associated
himself with various emigrant groups, ranging from the extreme left
(communists) to the Ustaša Movement of Dr. Ante Pavelić.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
66655
URI
Publication date:
4.12.2007.
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