Koršič Ivan

Senior Navy Chaplain Ivan Koršič (Solkan 1870 – Solkan 1941)

 

 

Koršič attended primary school in Solkan, then continued his schooling in Gorica and in 1890 entered the theological seminary in the same town. After 1893, when ordained priest, he celebrated Masses for a few years at Volče, Rihemberk (modern-day Branik) and Travnik in the Gorica region, and was in 1899 employed as Military Chaplain in the Navy. He served mostly in the major Austro-Hungarian military base in Pula. For three years he sailed on board the battleship Arpad operating in the Adriatic Sea and, occasionally, sailed to the Mediterranean. During World War I he also served in the Navy Hospital in Pula. He gradually progressed and was in 1915 awarded the highest clerical rank in the Navy – the rank of Senior Navy Chaplain. He remained in the Austro-Hungarian Navy until its downfall. He continued his service in Pula for another year within the framework of the Italian Navy, then returned to Solkan, where he spent some time celebrating Masses in the neighbouring village of Štmaver. In 1920, he was appointed Parish Priest and Dean in Kobarid.

 

Bogdana Marinac