Janez Evangelist Krek

Who was Janez Evangelist Krek?

Janez Evangelist Krek was a Slovene Christian Socialist politician, priest, journalist, and author.

He was born in a peasant family in the village of Sveti Gregor, in what was then the Austrian Empire. His father died when he was a child. After finishing the state gymnasium in Ljubljana in 1884, he entered the Roman Catholic seminary. He was consecrated priest in 1888, and sent to the theological faculty in Vienna by the bishop Jakob Missia. There, he became acquainted with the new Austrian Christian Social movement of the charismatic politician Karl Lueger. Krek graduated in 1892, and was appointed vicar in the Ljubljana Cathedral. From 1985, he taught philosophy at the Catholic seminary.

He soon became involved in politics within the conservative Slovene People's Party. In 1897, he was elected representative to the Austrian Parliament. In 1900, he decided not to run for a second turn. In 1901, he was elected representative in the Provincial Diet of Carniola.

Already in his early Viennese years, Krek had published critical articles against liberalism.