Janko Pleterski (1 February 1923 – 8 June 2018) 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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He was the father of the historian and

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

Andrej Pleterski Andrej is the form of the given name Andrew used in Slovak, Croatian and Slovene. Notable individuals with the given name Andrej *Andrej Babiš (born 1954), Czech politician *Andrej Bajuk (1943–2011), Slovene politician and economist *Andrej ...

Life

Pleterski was born on 1 February 1923 in

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

, Slovenia, then part of 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 ...

. He attended high school 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 ...

. In August 1941, he was arrested by the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

authorities of 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 ...

-occupied

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 ...

and imprisoned in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

in September 1943, he returned to Ljubljana. In July 1944, he joined the partisan resistance. After the end of

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 worked at the Yugoslav foreign ministry in

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 ...

as an expert on border issues with Italy and

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 ...

. In 1953, Pleterski became a researcher at the

Institute for Ethnic Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

in Ljubljana. In 1963, he obtained a PhD in modern history 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 from 1970 to 1982 he taught modern political history of

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

and

South Slavs South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, ...

. Between 1988 and 1990, Pleterski was member of the Presidential Council of the

Socialist Republic of Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

, as part of the reformist circle of the

Communist Party of Slovenia The League of Communists of Slovenia (, ZKS; ) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. It was established in April 1937 as the Communist Party of Slovenia and was ...

around

Milan Kučan Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovenian former politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 1991 to 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of Slovenia#Socialist Republic of Slovenia, Pres ...

and Janez Stanovnik who negotiated with the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

for a gradual democratisation of Slovenia. In 1989, 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 ...

Works

Pleterski wrote extensively on the Slovene history of late 19th and early 20th century, with an emphasis on the history of

Carinthian Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians (; ; ) are the Indigenous peoples, indigenous minority of Slovenes, Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of the minority group ...

, and on the relations between Slovenes and other Yugoslav peoples.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleterski, Janko 1923 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Slovenian historians Yugoslav diplomats Yugoslav Partisans members University of Ljubljana alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Politicians from Maribor League of Communists of Slovenia politicians Ethnic Slovene people Yugoslav historians