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 ...
in
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