Socijalno pitanje

Velimir Deželić son (1888–1976), an engaged Catholic intellectual, writer and activist of the Croatian Catholic Movement, published in 1926 in the Jeronim Library edition (book 238) the work Social Question. The book was based on lectures he gave at social courses of the Croatian Catholic People's Alliance in Zagreb.

The work represents a popular-Catholic approach to social issues in interwar Croatia. Deželić analyzes the causes of social injustices (industrialization, proletarianization, class conflicts), criticizes Marxist socialism and liberal capitalism, and offers Christian solutions based on the encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII (Rerum novarum) and later church documents.

He emphasizes the importance of fair wages, protection of workers, strengthening the family, cooperatives and solidarity instead of class struggle. He promotes harmony between capital and labor, social justice and Christian personalism. The style is clear, accessible and engaging, intended for a wider audience – priests, laity, Catholic activists and workers.

In the context of the author's oeuvre (along with novels such as Feminist and journalistic works), this is one of his key socially engaged works. He later collaborated on similar themes (e.g. Renewal of the Social Order, 1934). The book reflects the efforts of the Croatian Catholic movement to offer an alternative to secular ideologies and respond to the challenges of modern society.

Today it is read as an important document of Catholic social thought in Croatia between the two wars – a moderate, humane and religiously motivated approach to social justice. Rare antiquarian edition with a constructivist cover.