Iván Skerlecz

Iván Skerlecz de Lomnicza (often rendered Ivan Škrlec Lomnički in Croatian) (July 20, 1873 - January 12, 1951) was the last Hungarian to be ban (viceroy) of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.

Skerlecz was born in Oroszló, Baranya County, Hungary in 1873. The Hungarian prime minister István Tisza appointed Skerlecz head of the Austro-Hungarian crown land in 1913, shortly before World War I.

While Croatia-Slavonia was not the site of any battles, Croatian troops, fighting under the Croatian Home Guard took part in the fighting, much of it in neighbouring Serbia. Skerlecz managed to reconvene the Croatian Sabor (parliament) in Zagreb by 1915. The Croats made further demands for local authority, as well as unification of Croatia-Slavonia with Dalmatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Stefan Sarkotić, Austria-Hungary's commander in Bosnia and Herzegovina also sought unification of their provinces. However, Austria-Hungary's outdated political system made any shifts between areas under Hungarian or Austrian spheres of influence difficult. Skerlecz could only support the Croatians in acting autonomously. As the war progressed more Croats found the formation of a South Slav state a potentially beneficial possibility.

He resigned from his post on June 29, 1917 after Tisza was ousted from power, leaving the country in no better state than when he had arrived. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed the following year. Skerlecz returned to Hungary where he died in Budapest in 1951.

Sources

• "Škrlec, Ivan". Croatian Encyclopedia (in Croatian). Retrieved 24 July 2015.