Anton Mahnič

Anton Mahnič, also spelled Antun Mahnić in Croatian orthography, was born on 14 September 1850 and died on 30 December 1920. He was a Croatian-Slovenian prelate of the Catholic Church and a philosopher who established and led the Croatian Catholic Movement. Mahnič served as the bishop of Krk from 1897 to his death in 1920. Born in Kobdilj near Štanjel in the Austrian County of Gorizia and Gradisca (in today's Slovenia), he completed his theological studies in Vienna and worked as a priest and teacher in Gorizia. During this time, he became involved in Slovene political life, critiquing the liberal Catholic current within the Slovene national movement. In 1896, he was appointed Bishop of Krk in Croatia. Within his bishopric, he initiated numerous religious societies and activities, and fostered Catholic publishing, including a magazine dedicated to Christian philosophy called 'Hrvatska straža'. He also founded Catholic student magazines and societies throughout the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Mahnič authored many articles and works spanning theological, philosophical, aesthetic, and political domains. Later, he initiated a Pius society, which published a weekly newspaper named 'Jutro'. Groups of Catholic intellectuals, united around these publications, coalesced into the Croatian Catholic Movement before the First World War. Following the war, Mahnič faced persecution after the territory was annexed by Italy, leading him to relocate to Zagreb, where he passed away. Mahnič's primary objective was the defense and promotion of the Catholic faith and its moral principles within Croatian public and social life, which he perceived as threatened by liberalization and secularization. He also placed significant emphasis on the spiritual and intellectual education of youth.