Davorin Jenko (1853-1914)

Davorin Jenko, composer and conductor, was born in 1835 in Dvorje near Kranj. He began his career as choirmaster of Slovenian Singing Society in Vienna, where he composed music for Slovene choirs. At that time he also wrote the song for Naprej zastava slave (Forward, Flag of Glory), that later became Slovene national anthem. In the City of Pančevo he worked as a choirmaster of the local Serbian Orthodox Church Singing Society and Belgrade Singing Society. In Belgrade, he worked as a composer and conducter in the Serbian National Theatre. He wrote music for over 80 theatre performances. He also composed the song for the Serbian national anthem Bože pravde (God of Justice), which was part of the theatre play Markova sablja (Mark’s Sable), which opened in 1872. Bože pravde became the national anthem upon proclamation of kingdom of Serbia (previously principality) in 1882. In 1860s Jenko wrote the first Serbian operetta Vračara (The Sorceress) paving a way for development of Serbian opera. He died in 1914 in Ljubljana.

Edvard Rusjan (1886-1911)

First Slovene pilot, constructer, aviation pioneer, member of Pan-Slavic Sokol Movement, died in a flying accident in 1911 at an air show in Belgrade, when his plane crashed on Kalemegdan on 8th January 1911. Rusjan offered his knowledge and talent to the Kingdom of Serbia in 1908, when Austro-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Over 14.000 people of Belgrade attended his funeral at the cemetery Novo groblje. One of the speakers was a young Serbian writer Branislav Nušić. Member of the Royal family expressed their condolences to Rusjan’s family, and editorial board of newspaper Politika collected financial contributions for the family.

First aircraft of Yugoslav airline JAT, type DC-10, named after Rusjan, landed at Belgrade airport in 1979. In 2012, commemorative plaque was unveiled, where Rusjan crashed his plane.

Anton Korošec (1872¬–1940)

Anton Korošec, one of the most prominent Slovene and Yugoslav political persons who marked the first half of the 20th century.

He started his political career in the Austrian parliament in 1906 as the president of the Slovene Club. He was the president of the Yugoslav Club in 1917 with the goal to unite Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in the framework of the Austria¬–Hungary monarchy.

As the leader of the Slovenian People’s Party, the president of the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and a participant at the Geneva Conference (1918), he participated in the creation of the Yugoslav state community.

He was the vice-president of the first Yugoslav government and minister in different fields (forests and mining, traffic, education and internal affairs). He was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (July 27, 1928–January 6, 1929).

Because of his efforts for the unification and autonomy of all Slovenes, he was interned to Vrnjačka Banja in the beginning of 1933 and later on the Hvar Island.

As the minister of the interior in the Stojadinović-Korošec-Spaho government, he participated in the founding of the Yugoslav Radical Union in 1935.

In the Cvetković-Maček government he acted as the minister of education.

Anton Korošec was the representative of Slovene national interests, minister–Yugoslav, professor at the Agricultural Faculty in Zemun, president of the Cooperative Union of Yugoslavia.

He died in Belgrade on December 14, 1940 and is buried in the Memorial park Navje in Ljubljana.