Slovenian biographical lexicon

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The Slovenian biographical Encyclopedia ( SBL , Slovenian Slovenski biografski leksikon ) is a biographical reference work of important personalities of the Slovenian nation . It deals with people who were born in or were closely related to the territory of today's state.

history

SAZU 1910

Work began in 1921 with the first publication of a list of names. The authors were a few enthusiasts who were financially supported by the People's Bank Zadružna gospodarska banka , founded in 1903 . In 1921/22, the bank built its magnificent central building, which is still preserved today, in the late Art Nouveau style and was very receptive to nationalist tendencies. The goal was defined before the work began:

“The aim of the lexicon is to describe life and work of those persons who have in any way contributed to the knowledge, culture and development of our nation from its early days until now, that is to say, to present essential biographical and bibligraphical facts , relevant literature and concise evaluation of someone's opus wherever this evaluation is possible. "

“The aim of the lexicon is to describe the life and work of those people who have contributed in any way to the knowledge, culture and development of our nation from its early days to the present day, that is to say, to essential biographical and bibligraphic ones Present facts, important literature and concise evaluation of everyone's work wherever this evaluation is possible. "

- The Slovenian Bio-Bilbliographical Data Base . In: Traditional and future-oriented approaches to biographical research and lexicography . Booklet of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, November 14 and 15, 1997, p. 67 (English)

The first volume appeared in 1925. After the Second World War, the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) took over the financing and publication. In 1991 the work came to an end with 15 volumes as well as a register volume and 5031 articles. The work was interrupted from 1935 to 1952 due to political instability and then again for a short time in the 1960s and 1970s.

An online edition has been in progress since 2009. The first volume was available in December 2013. The two to three-yearly publication frequency planned in 1998 could not be adhered to.

content

I. book

  1. Volume: Abraham - Erberg. 1925, pp. 1-160
  2. Volume: Erberg - Hinterlechner. 1926, pp. 161-320
  3. Volume: Hinterlechner - Kocen. 1928, pp. 321-480
  4. Band: Kocen - LUZAR. 1932, pp. 481-688 + I

II. Book

  2. Band: Maas - Mrkun. 1933, pp. 1-160
  3. Band: Mrkun - Petejan. 1935, pp. 161-320
  4. Band: Peterlin - Pregelj. 1949, pp. 321-480
  5. Band: Pregelj - jellyfish. 1952, pp. 481-611 + VIII

III. book

  2. Volume Raab - Schmidt. 1960, pp. 1-224
  3. Volume: Schmidt - Steklasa. 1967, pp. 225-464
  4. Volume: Stel - Švikaršič. 1971, pp. 225-742 + XXXII

IV. Book

  2. Band, warehouse - Trtnik. 1980, pp. 1-204
  3. Band, Trubar - Vodaine. 1982, pp. 205-500
  4. Band, Waters - Zdesar. 1986, pp. 501-780
  5. Band, Zdolšek - Žvanut. 1991, pp. 781-1049 + XXXII
Person index. 1991, 245 pp.

meaning

The original list had 2335 people, but in the end about 5500 people were represented in the lexicon. Although only one change to the list is mentioned, several changes are expected. The completion of the work was seen as a great achievement for lexical completeness and unanimously as an important achievement in consolidating nation building. The people discussed in the book are still considered exemplary representatives of their country. What makes this encyclopedia important is not the specific content, but the idea itself: for the first time in the history of his country, the most important people are treated in a systematic, kaleidoscopic presentation. No other publication in Slovenia has come close to achieving this.

In addition, through its more or less regular publication after the Second World War, the work contributed to an important historical awareness of academic and university institutions. In a European comparison it stands in a row with similar biographical encyclopedias. After this encyclopedia, which was an important work of the century for the nation, was completed, one wondered how it should be further worked on. A second edition was planned for 1998, but fundamental problems arose. No one dared to publish such an extensive work, which went far beyond the imaginable period of 15 to 20 years. Dealing with the past was a heavy burden after the end of the Iron Curtain , i.e. the last ten years of the publication of the first edition, which ultimately slowed down the publication and blocked conceptual and organizational new approaches. Continuous continuation was therefore impossible. Erzar, who has worked on the project for many years, writes:

“Some would argue that there is no need for conceptualization in the field of historical research which is, as they suppose, merely descriptive and classificatory. What sort of concepts do you need to do historical research anyway? A completely different view is defended in this paper. In short, there is in every historical research and consequently in every biographical lexicon an irreducible and eminently philosophical part although this part may in most cases be only implicit. In this sense there was an implicit concept, motivated mostly by political circumstances, also in the old edition of SBL. "

“Some would argue that there is no need for conceptual design in the field of historical research which, they suggest, is merely descriptive and classifying. What kind of concepts do you need to do historical research? In this work a very different view is defended. In short, in every historical research there is consequently in every biographical lexicon an inducible and highly philosophical part, although in most cases this part can only be implicit. In this sense, there was an implicit concept that was primarily motivated by political circumstances, including in the old edition of the SBL. "

- Tomaž Erzar : The Slovenian Biographical Lexicon in the Past and in the Future . Footnote 2, p. 35

But precisely because of the uniform, balanced appearance of the first edition, its value is so significant, even if a new edition seems impossible. The structure is based on the general German biography published by KG Saur Verlag , whose number of entries is given as 60,000. The Slovenian equivalent should have 15,000 entries in the online edition in 1997; by mid-2013, more than 22,500 data entries were expected. In doing so, particular care should be taken to illuminate previously blind spots in national history and to include people who have meanwhile become more important. These include, for example, Slovenian emigrants and anti-communist opposition members.

Research can only be carried out on SBL's own computers, but is otherwise free for everyone.

literature

  • Tomaž Erzar: Slovenski biografski leksikon - eno življenje . In: Inštitut za slovensko literaturo in literarne vede ob petdesetletnici. Ljubljana 1998, pp. 71–80 (Slovenian)
  • Tomaž Erzar: The Slovenian Biographical Lexicon in the Past and in the Future . In: Traditional and future-oriented approaches to biographical research and lexicography . Booklet of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, November 14 and 15, 1997, pp. 34–37 (English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ivan Vurnik: Ljubljana, Zadružna gospodarska banka . Heritage.si
  2. ↑ a b Slovenian Bio-Bibliographical Database , website of the institute