Frano Supilo
(1870 - 1917)

Frano Supilo, Croatian journalist and politician, was born in Cavtat on November 30, 1870.

Already as a thirteen-year old he protested Austrian prince Rudolph Habsburg during his visit to Dubrovnik in 1883. Shortly after, Supilo was banned from all educational institutions within the Austro-Hungarian empire.

His political views he expressed by joining Ante Starčević's Party of Right and was no more than twenty when he became the editor of the pro-Starčević weekly Crvena Hrvatska ('Red Croatia') published in Dubrovnik.

During the summer of 1914 he emigrated first to Italy then to England. 

While at the outbreak of the World War I Supilo cordially supported the Allied cause, he protested the secret Treaty of London which gave Italy most of Croatia's islands and several of her coastal and inland territories.

With the said ends in mind, together with the Croatian politician Ante Trumbić and a famous sculptor Ivan Meštrović, Supilo  founded the Yugoslav Committee in 1915.

Prior to that, Supilo presided over the Croati-Serbian coalition until 1909 when, after the Friedjung affair, he had conflicted with the opportunistic majority led by Pribičević and resigned.

Supilo insisted on equality of the states within the future Yugoslav federation. This was at odds with Pašić (Serb delegation leader) whose Serbo-monarchic policy was supported by the majority.  Supilo resigned in 1916.

Still believing that the unification of equal South-Slav states is possible, on July 20, 1917 Supilo endorsed the Declaration of Corfu by which the kingdom of Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes would be formed.

Frano Supilo passed away in London on November 23, 1917.

Friedjung Affair

When Supilo drew up the Rijeka Resolution hoping to draw anti-Austrian Hungarians to his cause, the empire's authorities provided the publicist H. Friedjung with documents alleging that Supilo and his associates were working on behalf of Serbia.

Supilo sued Friedjung and the trial of 1909 demonstrated that the documents were forgeries.

Treaty of London

A secret treaty signed on June 26, 1915 by Great Britain, France and Russia on one side and Italy on the other.

It obligated Italy to fight against her Allies Austro-Hungary and Germany while, in turn, she would acquire some Croatian territories including most of her islands.