Engelbert Besednjak
Encyclopedia
Engelbert Besednjak was a Slovene Christian Democrat politician
, lawyer
and journalist
. In the 1920s, he was one of the foremost leaders of the Slovene and Croat minority in the Italian
-administered Julian March
. In the 1930s, he was one of the leaders of Slovene anti-Fascist émigrés from the Slovenian Littoral
, together with Josip Vilfan
, Ivan Marija Čok and Lavo Čermelj
. He is considered one of the best Slovene public speakers of the 20th century.
, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Italy
). After finishing the German language
State Gymnasium
in Gorizia, he enrolled at the University of Vienna
, where he studied law] graduating in 1920.
In the years before World War I
, he joined the young generation of Christian Socialist activists around the Carniola
n priest Janez Evangelist Krek
who challenged the conservative leadership of the Slovene People's Party
. Together with the priest Virgil Šček, Besednjak became one of the leaders of the Slovene Christian Socialist youth in the Austrian Littoral
. Between 1913 and 1914, he was the president of the Christian Social Association (Krščansko-socialna zveza) in Gorizia and Gradisca
, and between 1917 and 1919, he was a personal secretary of the chairman of the Slovene People's Party Anton Korošec
.
in the so-called Julian March
, an administrative region formed out of the former Austro-Hungarian Adriatic provinces annexed to Italy. In 1919, he became chief editor of the Slovene daily newspaper Edinost ('Unity') of Trieste
, and in 1921 he was elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Province of Gorizia
. From 1922 to 1924, he was director of the newspaper Goriška straža ('The Guard of Gorizia'). In the mid 1920s, he was member of the executive board of the League of the Slovene Agrarian Workers in Italy, and of the National Council of Croats and Slovenes in the Julian March. He also served as editor of the journal Socialna misel ('Social Thought').
In 1924, he was elected to the Italian Parliament on the unified list of Slovene, Croat and South Tyrol
ean parties. Besednjak thus became, together with the national liberal politician Josip Wilfan who was also elected on the same list, the highest representative of the around half a million South Slavs
living in Italy. He quickly rose to prominence for his eloquent defence of minority rights against Fascist Italianization. Despite his consistent criticism of the regime, he insisted on the political loyalty to the Italian state. He did not join the Aventine Secession, but continued with regular parliamentary work until mid 1926.
His parliamentary speeches, in which he defended minority rights
, and human rights
in general, from the early abuses of the Fascist regime, became famous among the Slovenes and Croats. Besednjak's speeches also attracted the attention of the Italian political scene and included parliamentary debates with the highest officials of the regime, including the Minister of Education Giovanni Gentile
and Benito Mussolini
himself. These speeches were printed in an integral version by Besednjak's journal Goriška straža, thus becoming widely known in the Slovene public. Several of his statements and punchlines entered the daily speech or acquired legendary status. His most famous speeches were directed against the school reform which sanctioned Italian as the sole language of education in Italy. In his last speech, delivered in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, he stated that, after the abolition of Slovene and Croatian language schools, every South Slavic family in Italy would transform itself into a school. In his concluding remark, he stated that "the laws of States are mutable, but Nations live forever", thus famously asserting the natural right of peoples before the established legal conventions.
, but already the following year he returned to Europe
in order to work at the Congress of European National Minorities in Vienna
, serving as its vice-president. Afterwards, he moved to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, settling in Belgrade
. Throughout the interwar period, he remained a member of the Slovene People’s Party, supporting its centrist faction led by the Christian Democratic politician Andrej Gosar
. After 1935, when the party leadership decided to support with the conservative Yugoslav government of Milan Stojadinović
, Besednjak became increasingly critical of its policies. Although he remained a member of the Slovene People's Party, he became disenchanted with its authoritarian and corporatist shift.
He spent the World War II
years in Belgrade. Although he did not join any of the political factions fighting against the German occupation of Yugoslavia. Initially, he rejecting the both the partisan movement and Draža Mihajlović's Chetniks
, as well as the various collaborationist militias (such as the Slovene Home Guard). After 1943, he collaborated with of the so-called "Catholic Centre", led by Jakob Šolar and Andrej Gosar
in the Province of Ljubljana
, and Virgil Šček in the Julian March
, trying to keep a balance between the pro-Communist Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
and various anti-Communist forces. After 1944, however, he became increasingly supportive of Josip Broz Tito
’s partisan movement, believing that the Communists would be the only force able to achieve the annexation of the Slovenian Littoral
and Istria
to Yugoslavia
, as well as the only ones capable to keep the country together.
n peninsula and most of the Slovenian Littoral
were annexed to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
. Gorizia and the Slovene-inhabited Venetian Slovenia
remained part of Italy, while Trieste and the neighbouring villages were included in the Allied-administered Free Territory of Trieste
. In 1950, Besednjak settled in Trieste. There, he was among the co-founders of the Slovene Christian Social Union, which later merged with other Slovene democratic and anti-Communist parties in Italy into the Slovene Union
. After the annexation of the Province of Trieste
to Italy in 1954, he retired from public life. In the late 1950s, he published a memoir dedicated to his friend and collaborator Virgil Šček. The text remains, to this days, one of the most comprehensive sources on the Slovene and Croat political movement in the Julian March under the Kingdom of Italy.
He died in Trieste in 1968.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. In the 1920s, he was one of the foremost leaders of the Slovene and Croat minority in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-administered Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
. In the 1930s, he was one of the leaders of Slovene anti-Fascist émigrés from the Slovenian Littoral
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
, together with Josip Vilfan
Josip Vilfan
Josip Vilfan or Wilfan was a Slovene lawyer, politician, and human rights activist from Trieste. In the early 1920s, he was one of the political leaders of the Slovene and Croatian minority in the Italian-administered Julian March...
, Ivan Marija Čok and Lavo Čermelj
Lavo Cermelj
Lavo Čermelj, Italianized in Lavo Cermeli was a Slovene physicist, political activist, publicist and author...
. He is considered one of the best Slovene public speakers of the 20th century.
In Austria-Hungary
He was born to a Slovene-speaking lower middle class family in GoriziaGorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune 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, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
). After finishing the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
State Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Gorizia, he enrolled at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
, where he studied law] graduating in 1920.
In the years before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he joined the young generation of Christian Socialist activists around the Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
n priest Janez Evangelist Krek
Janez Evangelist Krek
Janez Evangelist Krek was a Slovene Christian Socialist politician, priest, journalist and author.He was born in a peasant family in the village of Sveti Gregor , in what was then the Austrian Empire. His father died when he was a child...
who challenged the conservative leadership of the Slovene People's Party
Slovene People's Party (historical)
The Slovene People's Party was a Slovenian political party in the 19th and 20th centuries, active in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Between 1907 and 1941, it was the largest and arguably the most influential political party in the Slovene Lands...
. Together with the priest Virgil Šček, Besednjak became one of the leaders of the Slovene Christian Socialist youth in the Austrian Littoral
Austrian Littoral
The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate...
. Between 1913 and 1914, he was the president of the Christian Social Association (Krščansko-socialna zveza) in Gorizia and Gradisca
Gorizia and Gradisca
The County of Gorizia and Gradisca was a Habsburg county in Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.-Province of the Habsburg Empire:...
, and between 1917 and 1919, he was a personal secretary of the chairman of the Slovene People's Party Anton Korošec
Anton Korošec
Anton Korošec was a Slovenian political leader, a prominent member of the conservative People's Party, a priest and a noted orator....
.
In the Kingdom of Italy
After World War One, he returned to Gorizia, and soon became one of the main figures of Slovene and Croat political CatholicismPolitical Catholicism
Political catholicism is a political and cultural conception which promotes the ideas and social teaching of the Catholic Church in public life...
in the so-called Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
, an administrative region formed out of the former Austro-Hungarian Adriatic provinces annexed to Italy. In 1919, he became chief editor of the Slovene daily newspaper Edinost ('Unity') of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, and in 1921 he was elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Province of Gorizia
Province of Gorizia
The Province of Gorizia is a province in the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of Italy.-Overview:Its capital is the city of Gorizia. It belonged to the Province of Udine between 1924 and 1927 and the communes of Sonzia, Plezzo, Bergogna, Caporetto, Tolmino, Circhina, Santa Lucia d'Isonzo,...
. From 1922 to 1924, he was director of the newspaper Goriška straža ('The Guard of Gorizia'). In the mid 1920s, he was member of the executive board of the League of the Slovene Agrarian Workers in Italy, and of the National Council of Croats and Slovenes in the Julian March. He also served as editor of the journal Socialna misel ('Social Thought').
In 1924, he was elected to the Italian Parliament on the unified list of Slovene, Croat and South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
ean parties. Besednjak thus became, together with the national liberal politician Josip Wilfan who was also elected on the same list, the highest representative of the around half a million South Slavs
South Slavs
The South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
living in Italy. He quickly rose to prominence for his eloquent defence of minority rights against Fascist Italianization. Despite his consistent criticism of the regime, he insisted on the political loyalty to the Italian state. He did not join the Aventine Secession, but continued with regular parliamentary work until mid 1926.
His parliamentary speeches, in which he defended minority rights
Minority rights
The term Minority Rights embodies two separate concepts: first, normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or sexual minorities, and second, collective rights accorded to minority groups...
, and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
in general, from the early abuses of the Fascist regime, became famous among the Slovenes and Croats. Besednjak's speeches also attracted the attention of the Italian political scene and included parliamentary debates with the highest officials of the regime, including the Minister of Education Giovanni Gentile
Giovanni Gentile
Giovanni Gentile was an Italian neo-Hegelian Idealist philosopher, a peer of Benedetto Croce. He described himself as 'the philosopher of Fascism', and ghostwrote A Doctrine of Fascism for Benito Mussolini. He also devised his own system of philosophy, Actual Idealism.- Life and thought :Giovanni...
and Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
himself. These speeches were printed in an integral version by Besednjak's journal Goriška straža, thus becoming widely known in the Slovene public. Several of his statements and punchlines entered the daily speech or acquired legendary status. His most famous speeches were directed against the school reform which sanctioned Italian as the sole language of education in Italy. In his last speech, delivered in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, he stated that, after the abolition of Slovene and Croatian language schools, every South Slavic family in Italy would transform itself into a school. In his concluding remark, he stated that "the laws of States are mutable, but Nations live forever", thus famously asserting the natural right of peoples before the established legal conventions.
In exile
In 1929, Besednjak emigrated to ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, but already the following year he returned to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in order to work at the Congress of European National Minorities in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, serving as its vice-president. Afterwards, he moved to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, settling in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
. Throughout the interwar period, he remained a member of the Slovene People’s Party, supporting its centrist faction led by the Christian Democratic politician Andrej Gosar
Andrej Gosar
Andrej Gosar was a Slovenian and Yugoslav politician, sociologist, economist and political theorist.- Early life and career :...
. After 1935, when the party leadership decided to support with the conservative Yugoslav government of Milan Stojadinović
Milan Stojadinovic
Milan Stojadinović was a Yugoslav political figure and a noted economist.Stojadinović was born in Čačak in central Serbia, and went to school in Užice and Kragujevac. In 1910 he graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School, and gained a Ph.D. in economics in 1911...
, Besednjak became increasingly critical of its policies. Although he remained a member of the Slovene People's Party, he became disenchanted with its authoritarian and corporatist shift.
He spent the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
years in Belgrade. Although he did not join any of the political factions fighting against the German occupation of Yugoslavia. Initially, he rejecting the both the partisan movement and Draža Mihajlović's Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
, as well as the various collaborationist militias (such as the Slovene Home Guard). After 1943, he collaborated with of the so-called "Catholic Centre", led by Jakob Šolar and Andrej Gosar
Andrej Gosar
Andrej Gosar was a Slovenian and Yugoslav politician, sociologist, economist and political theorist.- Early life and career :...
in the Province of Ljubljana
Province of Ljubljana
The Province of Ljubljana was a province of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Nazi German Adriatic Littoral during World War II. It was created on May 3, 1941 from territory occupied and annexed to Italy after the Axis invasion and dissolution of Yugoslavia, and it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when...
, and Virgil Šček in the Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
, trying to keep a balance between the pro-Communist Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
On 26 April 1941 in Ljubljana the Anti-Imperialist Front was established. It was to promote "an international massive movement" to "liberate the Slovenian nation" whose "hope and example was the Soviet Union"...
and various anti-Communist forces. After 1944, however, he became increasingly supportive of Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
’s partisan movement, believing that the Communists would be the only force able to achieve the annexation of the Slovenian Littoral
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
and Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, as well as the only ones capable to keep the country together.
Return to the Julian March
With the Paris Treaty of 1947, the IstriaIstria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
n peninsula and most of the Slovenian Littoral
Slovenian Littoral
The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....
were annexed to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. Gorizia and the Slovene-inhabited Venetian Slovenia
Venetian Slovenia
Venetian Slovenia is a small mountainous region in northeastern Italy . Most of the region is located in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the area between the towns of Cividale del Friuli, Tarcento and Gemona ....
remained part of Italy, while Trieste and the neighbouring villages were included in the Allied-administered Free Territory of Trieste
Free Territory of Trieste
The Free Territory of Trieste was to be a city-state situated in Central Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, created by the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath of World War II and provisionally administered by an appointed military governor commanding the peacekeeping United...
. In 1950, Besednjak settled in Trieste. There, he was among the co-founders of the Slovene Christian Social Union, which later merged with other Slovene democratic and anti-Communist parties in Italy into the Slovene Union
Slovene Union
The Slovene Union is a centrist Italian political party representing the Slovene minority in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Its name in Slovene means literally "The Slovene Community", but the denomination "Slovene Union" is used in other languages....
. After the annexation of the Province of Trieste
Province of Trieste
The Province of Trieste is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Trieste.It has an area of 212 km², and a total population of 236,520...
to Italy in 1954, he retired from public life. In the late 1950s, he published a memoir dedicated to his friend and collaborator Virgil Šček. The text remains, to this days, one of the most comprehensive sources on the Slovene and Croat political movement in the Julian March under the Kingdom of Italy.
He died in Trieste in 1968.
Sources
- Egon Pelikan, Engelbert Besednjak v parlamentu - Discorsi parliamentari dell'on. Engelbert Besednjak (Trieste: Krožek za družbena vprašanja Virgil Šček, 1996).
- Egon Pelikan, Engelbert Besednjak v parlamentu - Discorsi parlamentari dell'on. Engelbert Besednjak (Trieste: Krožek za družbena vprašanja Virgil Šček, 1996).