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“THE ONLY THING THEY TURN THEIR HANDS TO IS FALSE BEGGARY!” THE SLOVAKS: “THE BEST HUNGARIANS” OR “A FREE NATION”? |
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Natural History-Mathematical Works of Habsburg, German, and Roman Jesuits at Prince Auersperg’s Trust Library of Ljubljana
Count Volf Engelbert Auersperg, once a student of the Graz Jesuits, was also their greatest patron. The article describes the most important works of the Graz Jesuits held by the Volf Engelbert Auersperg library, as well as giving a brief depiction of the works of other Habsburg, Roman and German Jesuits. Fifteen year-old Volf was one of the Carniolans to revert to the Catholic faith, otherwise he would not have been permitted to study at Graz University where he first became acquainted with early modern science, and compiled a considerable personal collection of Graz Jesuit manuscripts and books, of which several are described for the first time in this article.
When the German universities lost their standing because of the Thirty Years War, Volf continued his studies in Northern Italy. Here Volf was influenced by Italian and even Venetian culture, the effects of which were significant also at that time in Ljubljana and which tapered off later when German ascendancy prevailed. Volf introduced the opera, music, and the physics innovations of Galileo’s Tuscan and Kircher’s Roman Jesuit circles to Ljubljana.
“THE ONLY THING THEY TURN THEIR HANDS TO IS FALSE BEGGARY!”
Forcible removal as an institution for determent of the undesirables
Authorities, since time immemorial, have had a dislike for the poor, although the rich cannot exist without them. The question that has always seemed to crop up is, who is obliged to care for them and what rights do they have. It is an issue that has occupied the minds of regional and police authorities from the 16th century onwards and the legal aspects of which became increasingly more regulated with the advent of legal absolutism. With it, the forcible relocation of the poor and other marginalised segments of the population back to the place or municipality of their birth also became more regulated. In Austria-Hungary, the forcible removals and relocations carried out by the police, previously regulated by various and numerous laws and decrees, were governed by the State Law passed in 1871. Furthermore, the Provincial Law of 1873 appointed the municipalities in which relocation stations were located as authorities with jurisdiction through referral of legislative powers for all matters pertaining to relocation. One of these municipalities was also located in Kranj, where the preserved archival material includes, amongst other things, the complete expulsion protocols for 1876-1881 as well as other expulsion-related material which shows how these forcible removals proceeded, who the relocated persons were and where they came from, as well as details such as the cost and organisation of such proceedings.
“A NOVA-VAS EVENT IN STYRIA”
The illustrations of Gustava Jaroslav Schulz in the Pavliha magazine
The Czech illustrator and caricaturist Jaroslav Schulz (1846–1903) drew a series of caricatures and illustrations for seven editions of the satirical paper Pavliha published in 1870 by Fran Levstik (1831-1887). These illustrations graced the inside and the back page of the paper.
Levstik chose Schulz’s work to illustrate the poem “Novovaška dogodba” (“A Nova vas Event”) which discusses the attack carried out by pro-German supporters against the Slovenian parliamentary candidate, dr. Janko Sernec (1834-1909) – a lawyer from Maribor, and the notary public dr. Franc Rade (1830-1903). The attack, during which three people were wounded, took place in June of 1870 during an election assembly held in a private house in Nova vas by Slovenska Bistrica. In his poem, Levstik drew on the report on the incident published in the Slovenski gospodar, Slovenski narod and Novice papers. Reports of the violent incident also appeared in the German papers (such as the Marburger Zeitung). The trial of the 16 workers in the employ of the factory owner Sterberger from Zgornja Bistrica took place from January 3 to 5, 1872 at the Regional Court of Celje. The Slovenski narod published a part of the court stenographer’s notes on the proceedings, which were prepared by Ivan Tanšek at the request of the lawyer and entrepreneur dr. Fran Rapoc (1842-1888). The accused received prison sentences ranging from 14 days to 3 months.
THE SLOVAKS: “THE BEST HUNGARIANS” OR “A FREE NATION”?
The Slovaks as portrayed in the Hungarian press from 1914–1918
In his study, the author analyses the changing ways in which the Slovak speaking population of the north-western part of the Hungarian Kingdom was represented during the years of the Great War. This period was permeated by the predominant ideology of the Magyar political nation, which presented all the inhabitants of Translitania, including those of non-Magyar ethnicity as Magyars and as the sole nation within the borders of the Hungarian Kingdom. The non-Hungarian population of the Kingdom was subsequently presented to the world in ways that would fit this idea of a unitary Hungarian nation. The present article is based on the analysis of five Magyar regional newspapers in which the author explores the usage of various categories and stereotypes featured in representations of the Slovaks. The author argues that the images of the Slovaks presented to the public before and during the Great War were neither unvarying nor inadvertently distorted (as is usually assumed by historians), but that, on the contrary, they were diverse and contingent upon the prevailing Hungarian nationalist ideology as well as upon developments in the domestic and foreign political arenas.
DR. TOMAŽ FURLAN VERSUS THE WHITE DEATH
The doctor who wrote with exclamation marks!
The main aim of this article is by means of an overview of the bibliography of Tomaž Furlan, Doctor of Physiology, to provide insight into the work of this remarkable man and his views on the fight against tuberculosis in Slovenia. Dr. Furlan also battled this dangerous disease actively as a medical practitioner up until his untimely death in his early thirties (1928-1961). His efforts coincide with a time in which historical strides were made in the treatment of tuberculosis and in the field of medicine in general. The discovery of streptomycin dealt the final blow to tuberculosis , also known as “jetika” or “sušica” (“consumption” or “phthisis”), finally providing a complete cure for the pernicious disease after several millennia of failed attempts. Although before this time, no medication capable of effecting a complete cure existed, efforts were made to keep it in check with preventive measures such as the early diagnosis of infected patients, the founding of special clinics for the prevention of tuberculosis and anti-tuberculosis leagues to educate the public. The only hope for those who had contracted the White Death in the pre-streptomycin days of medicine lay in surgical means, such as were also developed in the sanatorium for tuberculosis patients at Golnik, where Dr. Furlan operated. In addition to his professional work, Dr. Furlan’s standing in the Social Democratic party and his tireless efforts in championing the rights of the workers and farmers are also noteworthy.
WOMEN AS PORTRAYED IN SLOVENIAN FEATURE FILMS
When comparing Slovenian movies with Hollywood productions and film production in other European countries, we find Slovenian filmmaking has a tradition of its own.
The many factors which had a bearing on the genre and type of films made in Slovenia were of a social and historical nature (socialism, the emancipation of women), political (those financing the film decided what would be filmed and how), the genre popular at the time (melodrama, comedy, horror, tragedy), cultural determinants (the importance of literature in Slovenian culture and the role of the theatre in the early years of the seventh art) and Slovene mythology.
These factors are mainly to blame for the fact that women are portrayed rather stereotypically in Slovene films, to the extent that it is possible to group them into the following categories: charming temptress, angelic woman, the melodramatic type, partisan mother, woman as an independent being, neutral housewife and mother, and woman as fighter/rebel.