Croatia’s Ban Josip Jelacic Gets Honour In Czech Republic

A memorial plaque in honour of a former Croatian Count has been unveiled in the Czech Republic on Saturday.

Ban Josip Jelacic, who was the Ban (Count) of Croatia between 1848 and 1959, has been recognised formally in the town of Napajdeli near Zlin in the Czech Republic where he tied the knot with Sofija Stockau, daughter of Count Georg Stockau in 1850.

Today the main square in the capital Zagreb is named after the famous Count which is also home to a statue of him upon his horse. Jelacic was a member of the House of Jelacic and a noted army general, remembered for his military campaigns during the Revolutions of 1848 and for his abolition of serfdom, the status of peasants under feudalism in Croatia.

The memorial plaque in honour of the Croatian Ban is at the Stockau family castle where he married Sofija. Count Josip Jelacic died on 20 May 1859 in Zagreb aged 57 after an illness. He is buried in Zapresic in a grave near his castle.