Kristan was born in Ljubljana, Duchy of Carniola, Austria-Hungary (now the capital of Slovenia) and baptized Ethbin.[2] He attended high school in Ljubljana and in Zagreb. After finishing high school, he enrolled in the military school in Karlovac. In 1887, he quit the military, moved to Vienna, and dedicated himself to journalism.
In Vienna, he became active in the labor movement. In 1896, he co-founded the Yugoslav Social Democratic Party (JSDS), and served as its chairman until 1914. Kristan belonged to the left wing of the party. He was one of the mastermind of non-territorial autonomy, but was not able to convince his comrades from other Austrian social Democratic parties. He advocated cultural autonomy for all the peoples in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and clashed with the right wing of his party (represented by Albin Prepeluh, Dragotin Lončar and Josip Ferfolja), which demanded territorial autonomy for Yugoslav peoples.
He returned to Yugoslavia shortly before his death in 1951. He died in Ljubljana in 1953.
Literary career
In addition to his political career, Kristan was a translator, journalist, poet, and novelist, and the editor of many Slovene publications based in Europe and the United States.
