Krek, Janez Evangelist

Born Nov. 27, 1865, in Sv. Gregor kod Ribnice, Dolenjsko; died Oct. 8, 1917, in the village of Šentjanž. Slovene political figure; Catholic priest.

In the 1890’s, Krek advocated the petit-bourgeois program of liberating the Slovene workers from exploitation by bankers, middlemen, and creditors by creating a consumers’ and credit-marketing cooperative. He also advocated prohibiting the division of peasant farms, tax reforms, and selling shares of industrial enterprises to the workers. In 1894 he founded the Catholic Workers Society and organized a widespread network of cooperatives in the villages. In addition, Krek advocated the political, economic, and cultural unity of the Southern Slavs and the reorganization of Austria-Hungary into a confederation of three territories (Austria, Hungary, and the lands of the Southern Slavs).