Ivan Grafenauer (7 March 1880 – 29 December 1964) 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 ...

literary historian The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...

and

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

Carinthian Slovene Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians (; ; ) are the indigenous minority of Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of the minority group is guaranteed in principle b ...

origin. He was born as Johann Grafenauer, as an illegitimate child of Michael Grafenauer and Elisabeth Flaschberger, in the village of Micheldorf () near Hermagor in

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 ...

, now part 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 ...

.Register of births, Egg/Brdo, 1858-1880, p. 322. At that time, Micheldorf was the westernmost Slovene-inhabited village, not only in Carinthia, but in all the Slovene ethnic territory. His father was a local Slovene cultural activist, and his uncle, , was a Slovene politician and member of the Austrian Imperial Council. After finishing high school in

Villach Villach (; ; ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 61,887. Together wit ...

in 1900, he enrolled 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 ...

, where he studied Slavic and German

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. Between 1904 and 1908, he taught at the high school in

Kranj Kranj (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fourth-largest city in Slovenia and the largest urban center of the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia) and the Slovene Alps. It is located approximately northwest o ...

and from 1908 in

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

. He obtained a PhD at the

in 1917 and a habilitation at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

in 1919. Grafenauer published most of his works in the period between

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 ...

and

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 mostly researched the medieval literature in 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 ...

, advancing a thesis on an uninterrupted tradition of vernacular literature in Slovene during this period. Among his most important works is a thorough analysis of the

Freising manuscripts The Freising manuscriptsAlso ''Freising folia'', ''Freising fragments'', or ''Freising monuments''; , , or are the first Latin-script continuous text in a Slavic language and the oldest document in Slovene. Description and origin The manus ...

. After 1940, he dedicated himself almost exclusively to the research of Slovene folk poetry. Many of his articles were published in the prestigious Catholic cultural magazine ''

Dom in svet ''Dom in svet'' ("Home and World") was a Catholic cultural and literary journal published in Slovenia. History and profile ''Dom in svet'' was published from 1888 to 1943. Its long-running rivalry with the national-liberal journal ''Ljubljanski ...

''. In 1940, he became a member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy. Cultural significance Establis ...

. He died in

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

. He was the father of the historian

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 ...

, the mineralogist Stanko Grafenauer, and the designer Marija Grafenauer Vogelnik, the uncle of the poet Niko Grafenauer, and the grandfather of the flautist Irena Grafenauer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grafenauer, Ivan 1880 births 1964 deaths People from Hermagor District People from the Duchy of Carinthia Slovenian literary historians Slovenian ethnologists Slovenian philologists University of Vienna alumni Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Slovenian Roman Catholics Carinthian Slovenes 20th-century philologists