Josip Križaj (13 March 1911 – 8 October 1948), also known by the Italianized name Giuseppe Krizai, nicknamed Pepi, was a Slovene (Yugoslav) military pilot and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Križaj was born in Kopriva on the Karst Plateau, then part of the Austro-Hungarian county of Gorizia and Gradisca. After World War I, the region became part of the Kingdom of Italy and Križaj became an Italian citizen. Already at a young age he showed a passion for flight, which led him to pursue a pilot's course at the royal officer school in Capua near Naples, Italy.