Jožef Klekl, also Stari Jožef Klekl, was Slovenian Chatolic priest, devout writer, publisher, editor and politican, who was born on 13. October 1874 in Krajna in municipality Tišina, he died on 30. May 1948 in Murska Sobota.

He was born to Prekmurje family of eight children, parents were fairly-wealthy farmers. Father Štefan finished bourgeois school in Radgona, mother Terezija was housewife and teacher.

Jožef Klekl finished his studies of theology in Sombotel in Hungary in year 1897. His clergy work as a chaplain (between years 1897 and 1905) and priest (between years 1905 and 1910) he did in several places. As chaplain he worked in Tišina, Inced, Črešnovci, as a priest in Pečarovci. In year 1910 he retired and settle down in Črenšovci.

In December 1904 Jožef started publishing Chatolic monthly newspaper Mary’s paper (si. Marijin list), in years 1932 and 1940 the monthly newspaper got childeren’s supplement Mary’s garden (si. Marijikin ograček). He founded weekly newspaper Novine in year 1913. In year 1918 he wanted to organise autonomous province – Slovenian province, which would be part of SHS (State of Slovenians, Croats and Serbs). The idea was supported by Anton Korošec, Joško Godina, Ivan Jerič and Mihael Kuhar. As a representative of SLS for Lendava region he worked between years 1920 and 1929. At the end of First World War he participated in agrarian reform in Prekmurje, he stood up for poor farmers, he set up a savings bank and agrarian cooperative in Črešnovci. During the Second World War, he was interned.

In sixties he was known as self-proclaimed leader of Prekmurje, hungarian propagandist and a person, who did nothing for annexation of Hungarian Slovenians into Yugoslavia. Vilko Novak opposed this belief, but his opinion has not yet been enforced.

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