Milko Brezigar (6 October 1886 – 22 April 1958) was a Slovene and Yugoslav liberal economist.

Biography

Born to a Slovene family the village of

Doberdò del Lago Doberdò del Lago (; Venetian language#Regional variants, Bisiacco: ; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia, Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of ...

() in the

Austrian Littoral The Austrian Littoral (, , , , ) was a crown land (''Kronland'') of the Austrian Empire, established in 1849. It consisted of three regions: the Margraviate of Istria in the south, Gorizia and Gradisca in the north, and the Imperial Free City ...

(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 attended the State gymnasium 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 ...

. He studied law at the universities of

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, graduating in 1910. In 1911, he started publishing articles on economic policies and economic theory. In 1914, he became the editor of the economic section of the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

newspaper ''

Reichspost ''Reichspost'' (; "Imperial Mail") was the name of the postal service of Germany from 1866 to 1945. ''Deutsche Reichspost'' Upon the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the break-up of the German Confederation in the Peace of P ...

''. 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 ...

, Brezigar maintained close contacts with the Yugoslav Committee through his friend, the Slovene émigré

Bogomil Vošnjak Bogomilism (; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian Gnosticism, Christian neo-Gnostic, Dualistic cosmology, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil (priest), Bogomi ...

; together with Janko Hacin, Brezigar was among the organizers of a secret network which made

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

on behalf of the Entente against the

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 ...

After the establishment of the

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( / ; ) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani (Serbs), Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of th ...

in October 1918, 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 1919, he was member of the Yugoslav delegation at the

Versailles conference The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. In the same period, he joined the Yugoslav Democratic Party, and was elected member of the Temporary Representative Assembly. As a close collaborator of the Slovenian liberal leader Gregor Žerjav, Brezigar was influential in composing the Democratic Party's economic program, which was based on

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

, but favoured state economic protectionism against foreign capital. In this period, he published his most important work, ''An Outline of the Slovenian National Economy'' (1918). In 1920, he was named professor 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 was among the founders of the Slovenian economic science. During this period, he did not engage in active politics, although he remained a member of the Democratic and later Independent Democratic Party After the establishment of the Communist system in 1945, he left Yugoslavia and settled in Austria, dying in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

in 1958.

Major works

*''Vorboten einer Wirtschaftskrise Deutschlands. Anwendung an die jetztige Wirtschaftslage'' (Berlin, 1913); *''Die Konjunktur- und Depressionswellen in Oesterreich seit 1896'' (Vienna, 1913); *''Osnutek slovenskega narodnega gospodarstva'' (Celje, 1918).

References

Sources

Primorski slovenski bibliografski leksikon: 'Milko Brezigar'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brezigar, Milko 1886 births 1958 deaths People from Doberdò del Lago People from Austrian Littoral Democratic Party (Yugoslavia) politicians Independent Democratic Party (Yugoslavia) politicians Yugoslav economists University of Graz alumni University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Economists from Austria-Hungary

Biography

Major works

See also

References

Sources