Franjo Malgaj

Franjo Malgaj
Franjo Malgaj

Franjo Malgaj (November 10, 1894 — May 6, 1919) was a Slovenian soldier, military leader and poet. He was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, he became one of the commanding officers in the Slovene volunteer army under Rudolf Maister's command that fought against German Austrian units during the struggle for the northern Slovenian borderlands. He later became an officer in the Army of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He died during the Austrian-Yugoslav struggles in 1919. He is considered as a Slovenian national hero.[1]

Contents

Education and military career

He was born in Hruševec near the Lower Styrian town of Šentjur, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Slovenia). After finishing the elementary school in the nearby Styrian town of Celje, he enrolled to the prestigious First Celje Grammar School. He later studied in the Carniolan town of Kranj and in Pazin (Istria).

After graduation at the of school for infantry reserve officers in Graz, he participated in the Italian campaign during World War I. He participated in the first and second battles of the Isonzo, where he got Typhoid fever. After recovering, he was transferred to the Tyrolean sector of the front. For his bold attacks on the Italian stronghold on Monte Zebio he received the Golden Medal and transferred to the 87th Infantry regiment in Celje. In October 1918, he started to study Law at the University of Graz.

Slovenian military leader

After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the establishment of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in late October 1918, he joined the Slovene volunteer army established by Rudolf Maister. This army, known as "Maister's fighters" (Slovene: Maistrovi borci), seized the Slovene-inhabited territories in Lower Styria, and fought against the forces of the German Austria for the border areas in Styria and Carinthia.

In early November, Malgaj gathered a group of Slovene volunteers around Celje and marched in south-eastern Carinthia (in what is now known as Slovenian Carinthia). Together with general Maister and a company of volunteers composed of soldiers of the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia that were retreating from imprisonment in Austria, he reached Lavamünd and conquered the Carinthian town Völkermarkt (Slovene: Velikovec) in late November 1918.

Death

There are several versions regarding his death. He either committed suicide on May 6, 1919 on Tolsti Vrh near Dravograd in Carinthia after he had been surrounded by Austrian soldiers, or he died after accidentally he activated hand grenade attached on his belt. Unconfirmed rumors suggest he was shot by a group of soldiers from Serbia, with whom he was allegedly in conflict.[2]

He was buried in the Carinthian town of Guštanj (now Ravne na Koroškem).

Legacy

On 90th anniversary of Malgaj's death his memoirs from period 1914—1919 memoirs were published. A primary school in Šentjur was named after him. Malgaj is well known in Slovenia because he led group of Maister's fighters that won Meža and its valley for Slovenia after First World War.

References

  1. ^ http://www.napovednik.com/dogodek104310_predstavitev_nove_knjige_franjo_malgaj_vojni
  2. ^ Turk, Juš (September 21, 2001) (in Slovenian)Dnevnik (Slovenia) archived from the original on March 11, 2011 http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dnevnik.si%2Ftiskane_izdaje%2Fhopla%2F9696&date=2011-03-11. Retrieved March 11, 2011 "Po Bibianinih besedah naj bi ga Srbi, ko je po koncu prve svetovne vojne na Koroškem s svojo enoto prodiral proti Velikovcu, zaradi nekega spora ustrelili kar v hrbet" 

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