Avgust Pirjevec (28 September 1887 – 9 December 1943) was a Slovene literary scholar,

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

, and

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

Biography

Pirjevec was born in a Slovene-speaking family in

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

, a town in the Austrian Littoral (now part of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

). He studied Slavic philology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He graduated in 1913 with a thesis on Fran Levstik. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After the demobilization in 1917, he taught Slovene and

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

at a Slovene-language high school in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. In 1920, he was fired by the new Italian authorities in the Julian March. In 1921, he moved to

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, in what was then the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

, and became the chief librarian of the National Research Library. Between 1925 and 1927 he shortly worked at the Library of the National Museum. In the 1920s and 1930s, Pirjevec published several treatises on Slovene literature in the 19th century, especially the Romantic circle of France Prešeren and Matija Čop. Together with Ivan Prijatelj and France Kidrič, Pirjevec was the main exponent of the positivist group of Slovenian literary historians of the interwar period. He was also important as a theoretician librarian; publishing numerous articles and monographs on the function and organization of libraries and library systems in modern societies. In addition, he wrote a cataloguing instruction manual for use by academic libraries. During the interwar period, Pirjevec maintained a position of a progressive and national liberal intellectual. He was critical of the absolute monarchy of

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I Karađorđević (, ; – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier ( / ), was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until Alexander I of Y ...

and supported the idea of an autonomous United Slovenia within the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. During World War II, his son Dušan Pirjevec became an important resistance leader of the

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

; his daughter Ivica Pirjevec was active in the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People and was killed by the Nazis in 1944. Because of the anti-Fascist activities of his children, Pirjevec was arrested by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

authorities of the Province of Ljubljana and sent to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in autumn 1943. He died in concentration camp Gusen in December 1944. After the war, a bust of Pirjevec was erected in the main entrance hall of the National and University Library of Slovenia.

References

*Janez Logar, "Pirjevec, Avgust" in '' Enciklopedija Jugoslavije'' Vol. 6 (Zagreb: Leksikografski zavod FNRJ, 1965), 504. *

Janko Kos Janko Kos (born 9 March 1931) is a Slovenian literary historian, theoretician, and critic. Early life He was born in Ljubljana in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as the son of the painter and sculptor Tine Kos. His father was a liberal ...

, ''Slovenska književnost'' (Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 1982), 267. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirjevec, Avgust 1887 births 1944 deaths People from Gorizia University of Vienna alumni Slovenian literary historians People who died in Mauthausen concentration camp Slovenian civilians killed in World War II Ethnic Slovene people Slovenian librarians Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I