Čepregi Karel

Karel Čepregi (Beltinci, 30 September 1907 – Portorož, 12 July 1989)

He graduated from high school in mechanical engineering and in 1927–1929 served in the Yugoslav Royal Navy. For a while he worked as chauffer for Ivan Kern, then passed the exam for the Merchant Navy Engineer's licence. He worked as Assistant Engineer on the ship Hrvatska, which was owned by Jadranska plovidba. He also sailed on board the ships Vojvoda Putnik, Aleksander I and Ivan Topić, with which he returned to his homeland in 1945. These ships sailed during the war in convoys on the route Africa – Australia – India – England – USA. In 1937, in Shanghai, China, he witnessed the Japanese attack on the city. As a skilled photographer he documented various moments of that tragedy. During World War II, sailing in the Pacific Ocean, his ship was attacked by a Japanese submarine. He was treated in a hospital in Valparaiso, Chile. Before the war she lived and worked for a time in London where she married for the first time. On return home he married again and was employed by the Directorate-General of Maritime Traffic in Rijeka until 1952, then by Jadranska linijska plovidba till 1954. He took part in the founding of Splošna plovba Portorož.

Nadja Terčon, Franco Juri

(PMSMP, documentation Yugoslav Royal Merchant Navy, documentation SPP, photographs from Karel Čepregi’s personal archive donated to the museum by his daughter Irena Dolinšek)