Anton Korošec
A Slovene priest and fiery orator who navigated the collapse of empires, becoming the first Yugoslav prime minister from Slovenia.
1872–1940 (age 68)·Yugoslav politician·Birthday: May 12·The Gilded Age
Biography
Anton Korošec was a man of cloth and country, whose powerful voice from the pulpit translated into political leadership during the seismic shifts of early 20th-century Europe. As a Catholic priest, he rose to lead the conservative Slovene People's Party, fiercely advocating for Slovene rights within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His moment came with the Empire's disintegration in 1918. He famously read the Declaration for a unified Yugoslavia in front of the Austrian parliament, a bold act that helped forge the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1928, following a political assassination, Korošec was tapped to lead a royal government as Prime Minister, a fragile coalition that lasted only months but marked a high point for Slovene influence. His later years were spent in opposition and, during World War II, under house arrest by the Nazis. Korošec's life encapsulates the turbulent journey of Slovenia from a Habsburg province to a component of a fraught Yugoslav experiment.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Anton was born in 1872, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Anton Was Born
The biggest hits of 1872
Anton's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1872Born
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1877Started school
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1885Became a teenager
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1888Could drive
President: Grover Cleveland
1890Could vote
Wounded Knee massacre marks the end of the Indian Wars
President: Benjamin Harrison
1893Turned 21
World's Columbian Exposition dazzles Chicago
President: Grover Cleveland
1902Turned 30
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1912Turned 40
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
President: William Howard Taft
1922Turned 50
King Tut's tomb discovered in Egypt
President: Warren G. Harding"April Showers" — Al Jolson
1932Turned 60
Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Atlantic
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Night and Day" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Grand Hotel
1940Died at 68
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
Key Achievements
- Served as the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from July 1928 to January 1929.
- Read the historic 'Declaration of the Yugoslav Nation' in the Austrian parliament in 1918, calling for a unified South Slav state.
- Was the long-time president of the Slovene People's Party, the leading political force in Slovenia between the World Wars.
- Served as Minister of the Interior and later Minister of Education in various Yugoslav governments.
Did You Know?
He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1895 and remained a cleric throughout his political career.
During World War I, he was a deputy in the Austrian Reichsrat (parliament).
He was placed under house arrest by Nazi German authorities after the invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941.
“Our faith and our Slovene soil are one and the same.”
