View source for Josip Križaj (aviator)

{{no footnotes|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Josip Križaj
|birth_date= {{birth date|1911|03|13|df=y}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1948|10|08|1911|03|13|df=y}}
|birth_place= [[Kopriva, Sežana|Kopriva]], [[Austria-Hungary]], now [[Slovenia]]
|death_place= [[Snežnik]] Plateau, [[Yugoslavia]], now [[Slovenia]]
|image=Josip Krizaj.jpg
|caption= 
|nickname= Pepi<br />
Nom de guerre: José Antonio Galiasso
|allegiance={{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}<br />{{flag|Spanish Republic|name=Second Spanish Republic}}<br />{{flag|Kingdom of Yugoslavia}}<br />{{flag|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia}}
|branch=[[Air force]]s
|serviceyears= 1930&ndash;1948
|rank= 
|commands=
|unit=[[Squadron España]]<br />
[[11th Fighter Squadron NOVJ]]
|battles=[[Spanish Civil War]]
* [[Catalonia|Catalan]] battlefield
[[World War II]]
*[[Balkan]] battlefield
|awards= [[Order of courage]]
|laterwork=
}}
'''Josip Križaj''' (13 March 1911 – 8 October 1948), also known by the [[Italianization|Italianized]] name ''Giuseppe Krizai'', nicknamed ''Pepi'', was a [[Slovenes|Slovene]] ([[Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]]) military pilot and a veteran of the [[Spanish Civil War]].

Križaj was born in [[Kopriva, Sežana|Kopriva]] on the [[Karst Plateau]], then part of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] county of [[Gorizia and Gradisca]]. After [[World War I]], the region became part of the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]] and Križaj became an Italian citizen. Already at a young age he showed a passion for flight, which led him to pursue a pilot's course at the royal officer school in [[Capua]] near [[Naples]], [[Italy]].

Due to his Slovene ethnic origins, he was not allowed into the regular [[Regia Aeronautica|Italian Royal Air Force]], but he was nevertheless granted a place in the reserves. Because of the physical hardships endured during the training and his pro-[[Slovenia]]n and pro-Yugoslav national political stance, he flew a [[Fiat AS.1]]  airplane on 25 June 1932 from [[Udine]] to [[Ljubljana]], crossing the border of [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], which led to much media interest. In 1934, he became a Yugoslav citizen. Following the outbreak of the [[Spanish Civil War]], he joined the [[Yugoslav volunteers in the Spanish Civil War|Yugoslav volunteers]] that fought on the side of the [[Spanish II Republic|Spanish Republic]]. He was a member of the [[Squadron España]], and was shot down once and captured during the war. After his return to Yugoslavia, he moved to [[Serbia]], where he lived during [[World War II]].

After the war, he became a [[SFR Yugoslav Air Force]] military pilot. His life ended on 8 October 1948, when his aircraft, a [[Yakovlev Yak-3]], crashed into Mount [[Snežnik]] in southwestern Slovenia because of poor visibility in dense fog.

Today, the [[Ajdovščina]] Flying Club is named after Josip Križaj, and there is a monument to him at [[Portorož Airport]].

== Sources ==
{{commonscat|Josip Križaj}}
* Stanonik, Tončka, Brenk, Lan: ''Osebnostiː veliki slovenski biografski leksikon'', Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana, 2008 {{COBISS|ID=241136128}}
* Kladnik, Darinka: ''Zgodovina letalstva na Slovenskem'', ZIP - Zavod za intelektualno produkcijo, Ljubljana, 2008 {{COBISS|ID=242534912}} {{ISBN|978-961-91035-6-2}}
* Emiliani, Angelo: ''Italiani Nell'Aviazione Repubblicana Spagnola'', Edizioni Aeronautiche Italiane S.r.l., 1980.
* Matyáš, Svatopluk: Stíhačky nad Španělskem 1936–1939, Svět křídel, Cheb 1998.
* Polák, T.: Esa meziválečného období - Part II, in ''Plastic Kits revue'', no. 44, 1995.
* Žirochov, Michail: "Krasnyj" italjanec, ''Aviacija i vremja'', no. 2, 2003.

{{Ajdovščina |state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krizaj, Josip}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:Slovenian aviators]]
[[Category:Yugoslav people of the Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)]]
[[Category:Slovenian flying aces]]
[[Category:Shot-down aviators]]
[[Category:Yugoslav prisoners of war]]
[[Category:People from the Municipality of Sežana]]
[[Category:Spanish Civil War prisoners of war]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1948]]
[[Category:Italian defectors]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Yugoslavia]]