Fran Zwitter (24 October 1905 – 14 April 1988) was a

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 ...

n historian. Together with

Milko Kos Milko Kos (12 December 1892 – 24 March 1972) was a Slovenian historian, considered the father of the Ljubljana school of historiography. Early life and education He was born in the town of Gorizia (then part of Austro-Hungarian Empire, now ...

Bogo Grafenauer Bogo Grafenauer (16 March 1916 – 12 May 1995) was a Slovenian historian, who mostly wrote about medieval history in the Slovene Lands. Together with Milko Kos, Fran Zwitter, and Vasilij Melik, he was one of the founders of the so-called ...

, and Vasilij Melik, he is considered the co-founder of the Ljubljana School of Historiography.

Life and work

He was born in the village of Bela Cerkev near

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; ; also known by #Name, alternative names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, seventh-largest city of Slovenia. It is the economic and cultural centre of the traditional region of Lower Carniola (southeastern Slovenia) and ...

in what was then the

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola (, , ) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under House of Habsburg, Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg monarc ...

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He was the son of Martin (a. k. a. Davorin) Zwitter, a Carinthian Slovene judge. After his death in 1918, the family decided to stay in 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 ...

(the

Carinthian Plebiscite The Carinthian plebiscite (, ) was held on 10 October 1920 in the area in southern Carinthia predominantly settled by Carinthian Slovenes. It determined the final border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croa ...

assigned their native region to the

Republic of Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

). After finishing grammar school in Novo Mesto, he enrolled at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

, where he studied

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

. Between 1926 and 1928, he studied also 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 ...

. Between 1930 and 1932, he studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

under the supervision of

Albert Mathiez Albert-Xavier-Émile Mathiez (; 10 January 1874 – 26 February 1932) was a French historian, best known for his Marxist interpretation of the French Revolution. Mathiez emphasized class conflict. He argued that 1789 pitted the bourgeoisie agains ...

. Between 1932 and 1938, he taught at the Ljubljana Classical Lyceum. In 1938, he became professor at the University of Ljubljana. In the 1930s, he was active in public life, publishing critical articles in

left liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

journals, such as ''

Sodobnost ''Sodobnost'' () is a Slovenian literary and cultural magazine, established in 1933. It is considered the oldest of currently existing literary magazines in Slovenia. Although ''Sodobnost'' has traditionally been a magazine focused on cultural an ...

'' and ''

Ljubljanski zvon ''Ljubljanski zvon'' (The Ljubljana Bell) was a Literary magazine, journal published in Ljubljana in Slovene language, Slovene between 1881 and 1941. It was considered one of the most prestigious literary and cultural magazines in Slovenia. Earl ...

''. Soon after the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

in April 1941, he joined the

Liberation Front of the Slovenian People The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation (), or simply Liberation Front (''Osvobodilna fronta'', OF), originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front (''Protiimperialistična fronta'', PIF), was a Slovene anti-fascist political party. The Anti-Imp ...

. In May of the same year, he was arrested by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

occupation authorities of the

Province of Ljubljana The Province of Ljubljana (, , ) was the central-southern area of Slovenia. In 1941, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, and after 1943 occupied by Nazi Germany. Created on May 3, 1941, it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when the Slovene Parti ...

, but released soon afterwards. In March 1942, he was arrested again and sent to the

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

Aprica Aprica () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy, northern Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, ...

, on the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

border. After the

Italian armistice The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

, he found his way back to

, where he joined the partisan resistance. Between January 1944 and March 1945, he organized and led the ''Scientific Institute of the Executive Council of the Liberation Front'', a unique institution in the

Nazi-occupied Europe German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

. The institute mainly prepared documentation on border issues and prepared expertises for the Yugoslav territorial claims against Italy in the

Julian March The Julian March ( Croatian and ), also called Julian Venetia (; ; ; ), is an area of southern Central Europe which is currently divided among Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia.

and against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

. In 1945, he moved to the Yugoslav capital

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, where he worked as an expert on north-western border issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After 1948, he moved back 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 ...

, where he taught at the Department of History of the University of Ljubljana. Between 1952 and 1954, he served as rector of the University. In 1953, he became a member of the Slovenian and later also of the Yugoslav (1961) and the

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel Prize, Nobel la ...

(1970). Between 1975 and 1978, he served as president of the publishing house ''

Slovenska matica The Slovene Society (, also ) is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, founded on 4 February 1864 as an institution for the scholarly and cultural progress of Slovenes. History The Slovene Society was founded upon the proposal of sev ...

''. Zwitter's initial expertise was the social history of medieval towns, but under the influence of his supervisor

, he switched to modern history. Under the influence of the French

Annales school The ''Annales'' school () is a group of historians associated with a style of historiography developed by French historians in the 20th century to stress long-term social history. It is named after its scholarly journal '' Annales. Histoire, S ...

, he introduced several methodological innovation in the study of the demographic history of the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provinces, the Austrian Empi ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he turned to the study of nationality issues in the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. He died in Ljubljana in 1988, and was buried in the cemetery in Bela Cerkev. His son

Matjaž Zwitter Matjaž or Matjaz is a given name. It may refer to: *King Matjaž, legendary king in Slovenia, as well as Croatia and elsewhere *Matjaž Brumen (born 1982), Slovenian handball player *Matjaž Ceraj (born 1983), Slovenian judoka *Matjaž Cvikl (1967 ...

is a physician, his other son,

Tomaž Zwitter Tomaž is the Slovene form of the male given name Thomas. People Bearers of these names include: *Tomaž Barada, Slovenian martial artist * Tomaž Čižman (born 1965), Slovenian alpine skier *Tomaž Humar (born 1969), Slovenian mountaineer * Toma ...

is an astronomer, and his daughter, Anja Dular is a historian, librarian and social anthropologist.

Major works

*''Starejša kranjska mesta in meščanstvo'' ("The Burgers in the Older Carniolan Towns"). Ljubljana, 1929; *''Les origines de l'illyrisme politique et la création des Provinces illyriennes'' ("The Origins of Political Illyrism and the Creation of the

Illyrian Provinces The Illyrian Provinces were an autonomous province of France during the First French Empire that existed under Napoleonic Rule from 1809 to 1814. The province encompassed large parts of modern Italy and Croatia, extending their reach further e ...

). Dijon, 1933; *''Les problemes nationaux dans la monarchie des Habsbourg'' ("National Questions in the Habsburg Monarchy"), co-authored with

Jaroslav Šidak Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin. Its feminine form is Jaroslava. There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that origi ...

and

Vaso Bogdanov Vaso may refer to the following items: * Vaso, India, a village in Kheda District Of Gujarat, India * Vaso (name), several individuals with the name Vaso * Vaso-occlusive crisis A vaso-occlusive crisis is a common painful complication of sickle ...

. Belgrade, 1960; *''Die Kärntner Frage'' ("The Carinthian Question"). Klagenfurt, 1979; *''O slovenskem narodnem vprašanju'' ("On the Slovene national question"). Selected articles edited by Vasilij Melik, Ljubljana, 1990.

References

Short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwitter, Fran University of Ljubljana alumni University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana 20th-century Slovenian historians Social historians Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts People from the Urban Municipality of Novo Mesto People of Carinthian Slovene descent Yugoslav Partisans members Slovenian atheists 1905 births 1988 deaths

Life and work

Major works

Further reading

References