Branko Kralj

Handball player, soccer player and harmonica player (Zagreb, March 10, 1924 — Zagreb, December 18, 2012). He finished high school in Zagreb in 1944 and studied at the Faculty of Economics in 1959. He started his sports career in handball as a goalkeeper in HŠK »Concordia« in 1937, then he was a goalkeeper in the First Croatian Civic Sports Club and RK »Zagreb« and in the NDH and Yugoslav national teams. At the same time, he was a football goalkeeper of HŠK »Concordia« 1942–45, of the clubs »Borac« 1945–48, »Zagreb« 1948–51. and 1951–57. "Dinamo", with which he won the national championship in 1954, and the national team in 1954-55. He was also involved in sports journalism (Dinamo na four kontinenta. Zagreb 1955; Vratari koji se pamte. Zagreb 1959), was a commercial director and editor in Sports Forum (1962–71) and a contributor to Povijesti sport (1980). — He was the first to introduce the harmonica to jazz music in our country and founded and managed under his own name in 1938–41. Quintet, 1946–48. Trio (harmonica, guitar, double bass or clarinet) and 1957–68. Harmonica quintet. Year In 1995, he founded the band Branko Kralj & Trio (guitars A. Bubanović and M. Matišić, double bass M. Prohaska), with whom he recorded the CD Moja usna harmonica (Orfej, 1997). He also played in bands of other jazz musicians (B. Petrović), and recorded a record with the Tomica Simović Ensemble, Branko Kralj. Harmonica (Production of gramophone records of RTV Belgrade, 1962). Around 70 of his recordings with different compositions and four recordings of his jazz compositions have been preserved in the Sound Department of the Croatian Radio. He also wrote about jazz music (Globus, 1947–48), was an associate and author of the Radio-Zagreb radio show Govorimo o jazzu 1964–66. He is the author of the manual for diatonic and chromatic harmonica Moja usna harmonica (Zagreb 1994). He was the president of the Zagreb Jazz Club of the Croatian Society of Composers in 1990-99. Received the Status gold plaque for overall contribution to Croatian jazz music in 1997. — He was the president of the organizing committee of the Exhibition of Croatian Innovators (INOVA) from 1978, the Association of Innovators Zagreb 1979–83. and Croatia in 1983–87. and Croatian National Techniques since 1987 (since 1992 Croatian Association of Technical Culture; lifetime honorary president since 1994). Participated in numerous meetings on innovation activity and in the drafting of the Law on Technical Culture in 1980, advocated for the creation of the Croatian patent system and contributed to the profiling of the State Patent Office. Co-initiator, member of the editorial board and associate of the magazine Inventivni radnik (1982–87). For his contribution to technical culture, he received the "Faust Vrančić" and "Dr. Oton Kučera" in 1996. Published memories (Da bi reč rekel. Zagreb 2004).