Josip Kušević

Josip Kušević (also spelled Joseph Kussevich, 23 May 1775 – 5 July 1846) was a Croatian politician and lawyer. He was the prothonotary of the Croatian realm and a member of the Croatian Parliament and the Diet of Hungary. As a politician, he opposed the introduction of Hungarian as the official language in Croatia. Kušević is known for De municipalibus iuribus et statutis regnorum Dalmatiae, Croatiae et Slavoniae – the work compiling and advocating the rights of Croatia to a special status within the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, i.e. the Croatian state right.

Kušević's work influenced the Illyrian movement and he was held in high regard by supporters of the movement. He held the view that the South Slavs were indigenous population who had inhabited the Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. In turn, he linked the South Slavs with the Illyrians and hypothesised that there was a common South Slavic language which he referred to as the Croatian-Slavic-Illyrian language.