Ivan Hribar
Encyclopedia
Ivan Hribar was a Slovene and Yugoslav
banker, politician
, diplomat
and journalist
. At the turn of the century, he was one of the leaders of the National Progressive Party
, and one of the most important figures of Slovene liberal nationalism. Between 1896 and 1910, he was the mayor of Ljubljana
(nowadays the capital of Slovenia
), and greatly contributed to its rebuilding and modernisation after the 1895 earthquake
.
n town of Trzin
in what was then the Austrian Empire
(now in Slovenia
). He studied law at the University of Vienna
, and made a professional career as the representative of a Czech
bank in Ljubljana
between 1876 and 1919.
In the 1880s he became involved in politics, soon emerging as one of the leading figures of the Slovene national
liberalism
in Austria-Hungary
. Together with his close political ally Ivan Tavčar
he founded the National Party of Carniola, later renamed to National Progressive Party
. From 1882 he served as city councellor of Ljubljana
. In 1896 he was elected mayor of Ljubljana and became famous for implementing a large scale reconstruction of the town after the Ljubljana earthquake of 1895. He invited the architect Max Fabiani
to make a new urban development plan for the town. This included the complete renovation of Prešeren Square
and the area around the Triple Bridge (the Kresija Palace
and the Philip Mansion
), as well as the construction of the Dragon Bridge
: all of these buildings are nowadays considered as central symbols of Ljubljana. Hribar's aim was to transform Ljubljana into a representative centre of all Slovene Lands
and thus create a cultural and economic capital for the Slovenian people. He carried out a radical modernization of the city's infrastructure, including electrification
and the introduction of trams. He also cleaned up the city's public finances. During his time in office Hribar often clashed with the ethnic German
minority of Ljubljana on a number of issues.
He remained in office until 1910, when the Emperor Franz Joseph I
refused to confirm his reelection, because of his alleged role in anti-German riots two years earlier, in which two Slovenian students were shot by the Austro-Hungarian Army
. He was succeeded by Ivan Tavčar
.
Between 1889 and 1908, he served as member of the Carniolan
Provincial Diet, and between 1907 and 1911 as member of the Austrian Parliament
.
During his political activity in Austria-Hungary, Hribar was a great supporter of collaboration between Slovenes and other Slavic peoples
, especially Czechs. He made many efforts to bring Czech
investments to the Slovene Lands
and he helped to establish several institutions on the Czech model, most famously the Sokol
athletic association. He is also said to have based the reconstruction of Ljubljana so that the town would resemble Prague
. Due to his Panslavic ideas, he was imprisoned twice during World War I
, between August and December 1914 and between January and March 1915. Between April 1915 and June 1917, he was placed in house arrest in an estate in Land Salzburg, far from his homeland, in order to isolate him from his potential political allies.
Together with Mihajlo Rostohar
, Hribar also played an important role in the establishment of the University of Ljubljana
.
After the end of World War I
and the establishment of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, he withdrew from party politics, although he remained active in public life. Between 1919 and 1921, he served as the Yugoslav ambassador to Czechoslovakia
. In 1921 he was appointed provisional representative of the Yugoslav central government in Slovenia, a post he held until the implementation of the new subdivisions
in 1923. As a staunch advocate of Yugoslav nation building, he supported the centralist dictatorship of king Alexander
. In 1932 he was appointed senator by the king and remained one until 1938 when he retired. In the late 1930s he voiced his support for a common political platform of all patriotic anti-fascist forces. In 1940, after Hitler's Invasion of France, he became one of the founders of the "Association of Friends of the Soviet Union
", which served as one of the rallying grounds for the later development of the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
.
invasion of Yugoslavia
in 1941, Hribar committed suicide
(at the age of ninety) as a protest against the Italian annexation of Ljubljana
. On 28 December, after returning home from a meeting with the Fascist Italian
authorities which had just offered him the mayorship of the city, he jumped into the Ljubljanica
river, wrapped in the Yugoslav flag
. He left a note with the verses from France Prešeren
's poem The Baptism at the Savica Waterfall:
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
banker, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
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...
. At the turn of the century, he was one of the leaders of the National Progressive Party
National Progressive Party (Slovenia)
The National Progressive Party was a political party in the Carniola region of Austria-Hungary. It was established in 1894 by Ivan Tavčar as the National Party of Carniola and renamed in 1905 to The National Progressive Party...
, and one of the most important figures of Slovene liberal nationalism. Between 1896 and 1910, he was the mayor of Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
(nowadays the capital of Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
), and greatly contributed to its rebuilding and modernisation after the 1895 earthquake
1895 Ljubljana earthquake
The 1895 Ljubljana earthquake refers to an earthquake that struck the Ljubljana, the capital and largest city in Slovenia, on 14 April. A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck at 11:17 pm and shocks were felt as far away as Florence, Vienna and Split....
.
In Austria-Hungary
Ivan Hribar was born in the CarniolaCarniola
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 town of Trzin
Trzin
Trzin is district of Domžale and municipality in the eastern part of the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The Parish Church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Florian and was built in the mid 14th century....
in what was then the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
(now in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
). He studied law 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...
, and made a professional career as the representative of a Czech
Czech lands
Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...
bank in Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
between 1876 and 1919.
In the 1880s he became involved in politics, soon emerging as one of the leading figures of the Slovene national
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. Together with his close political ally Ivan Tavčar
Ivan Tavcar
Ivan Tavčar was a Slovene and Yugoslav writer, lawyer, and politician.- Biography :Tavčar was born into a poor peasant family of Janez and Neža née Perko in the Carniolan village of Poljane near Škofja Loka in what was then the Austrian Empire and is now in Slovenia. It has never been entirely...
he founded the National Party of Carniola, later renamed to National Progressive Party
National Progressive Party (Slovenia)
The National Progressive Party was a political party in the Carniola region of Austria-Hungary. It was established in 1894 by Ivan Tavčar as the National Party of Carniola and renamed in 1905 to The National Progressive Party...
. From 1882 he served as city councellor of Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
. In 1896 he was elected mayor of Ljubljana and became famous for implementing a large scale reconstruction of the town after the Ljubljana earthquake of 1895. He invited the architect Max Fabiani
Max Fabiani
Max Fabiani, was a Slovene-Italian architect from the Gorizia region. Together with Ciril Metod Koch, he introduced the Vienna Secession style of architecture in the Slovene Lands.-Life:...
to make a new urban development plan for the town. This included the complete renovation of Prešeren Square
Prešeren Square
Prešeren Square is the central square in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The square and surroundings have been closed to traffic since 1 September 2007. A scale model of the square is exhibited at Mini-Europe in Brussels in a proportion of 1:25 to the original.-Description:Prešeren Square was...
and the area around the Triple Bridge (the Kresija Palace
Kresija Palace
The Kresija Palace is a building in central Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.Located on the banks of the Ljubljanica River around the Triple Bridge, the building is noted for its Neobaroque and Neo-rococo style and structure. It was built after the Ljubljana earthquake in 1895 to house the...
and the Philip Mansion
Philip Mansion
Philip Mansion is a building in central Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.It is located along the Ljubljanica River, near the city's famous Triple Bridge, just opposite central Prešeren Square. It was constructed in 1895, at the same time as the Kresija Palace, which stands opposite it on the...
), as well as the construction of the Dragon Bridge
Dragon Bridge
Dragon Bridge is a road bridge located in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is situatedin the northeast of Vodnik Square across the Ljubljanica river. Built in the beginning of the 20th century, the bridge is today protected as a technical monument....
: all of these buildings are nowadays considered as central symbols of Ljubljana. Hribar's aim was to transform Ljubljana into a representative centre of all Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
and thus create a cultural and economic capital for the Slovenian people. He carried out a radical modernization of the city's infrastructure, including electrification
Electrification
Electrification originally referred to the build out of the electrical generating and distribution systems which occurred in the United States, England and other countries from the mid 1880's until around 1940 and is in progress in developing countries. This also included the change over from line...
and the introduction of trams. He also cleaned up the city's public finances. During his time in office Hribar often clashed with the ethnic German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
minority of Ljubljana on a number of issues.
He remained in office until 1910, when the Emperor Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
refused to confirm his reelection, because of his alleged role in anti-German riots two years earlier, in which two Slovenian students were shot by the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
. He was succeeded by Ivan Tavčar
Ivan Tavcar
Ivan Tavčar was a Slovene and Yugoslav writer, lawyer, and politician.- Biography :Tavčar was born into a poor peasant family of Janez and Neža née Perko in the Carniolan village of Poljane near Škofja Loka in what was then the Austrian Empire and is now in Slovenia. It has never been entirely...
.
Between 1889 and 1908, he served as member of the Carniolan
Duchy of Carniola
The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...
Provincial Diet, and between 1907 and 1911 as member of the Austrian Parliament
Reichsrat (Austria)
The Imperial Council of Austria from 1867 to 1918 was the parliament of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Herrenhaus and the Abgeordnetenhaus...
.
During his political activity in Austria-Hungary, Hribar was a great supporter of collaboration between Slovenes and other Slavic peoples
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
, especially Czechs. He made many efforts to bring Czech
Czech lands
Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...
investments to the Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
and he helped to establish several institutions on the Czech model, most famously the Sokol
Sokol
The Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...
athletic association. He is also said to have based the reconstruction of Ljubljana so that the town would resemble Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Due to his Panslavic ideas, he was imprisoned twice during 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...
, between August and December 1914 and between January and March 1915. Between April 1915 and June 1917, he was placed in house arrest in an estate in Land Salzburg, far from his homeland, in order to isolate him from his potential political allies.
Together with Mihajlo Rostohar
Mihajlo Rostohar
Mihajlo Rostohar was a Slovenian psychologist, author and educator, who played an important role during the creation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs...
, Hribar also played an important role in the establishment of the University of Ljubljana
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...
.
In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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...
and the establishment of 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...
, he withdrew from party politics, although he remained active in public life. Between 1919 and 1921, he served as the Yugoslav ambassador to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. In 1921 he was appointed provisional representative of the Yugoslav central government in Slovenia, a post he held until the implementation of the new subdivisions
Subdivisions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The subdivisions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia existed successively in three different forms. From 1918 to 1922, the kingdom maintained the pre-World War I subdivisions of Yugoslavia's predecessor states...
in 1923. As a staunch advocate of Yugoslav nation building, he supported the centralist dictatorship of king Alexander
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
. In 1932 he was appointed senator by the king and remained one until 1938 when he retired. In the late 1930s he voiced his support for a common political platform of all patriotic anti-fascist forces. In 1940, after Hitler's Invasion of France, he became one of the founders of the "Association of Friends of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
", which served as one of the rallying grounds for the later development of the 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"...
.
After the Italian annexation of Ljubljana
Hribar was known as a passionate politician and a great Slovene and Yugoslav patriot. After the AxisAxis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
invasion of Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
in 1941, Hribar committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
(at the age of ninety) as a protest against the Italian annexation 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...
. On 28 December, after returning home from a meeting with the Fascist Italian
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
authorities which had just offered him the mayorship of the city, he jumped into the Ljubljanica
Ljubljanica
The Ljubljanica is a river in the southern part of Ljubljana Basin in Slovenia. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, is situated on the river. The Ljubljanica rises to the south of the town Vrhnika and outflows in the Sava River about downstream from Ljubljana. Its largest affluent is Mali graben....
river, wrapped in the Yugoslav flag
Flag of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The national flag of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia was blue-white-red in the horizontal sense against a vertical staff. The common national civil flag was the same as historic Pan-Slavic flag approved at the Pan-Slavic Congress in Prague, 1848....
. He left a note with the verses from France Prešeren
France Prešeren
France Prešeren was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet. Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter....
's poem The Baptism at the Savica Waterfall:
Manj strašna noč je v črne zemlje krili,
kot so pod svetlim soncem sužni dnovi.
Less fearful the long night of life’s denial
Than living ‘neath the sun in subjugation!
Tributes
After World War II, the embankment of Ljubljanica from which Ivan Hribar jumped into the river was named after him. On 30 August 2010, a monument to Hribar was unveiled on the Hribar Embankment, next to the Shoemakers' Bridge, not far from the place of his death. The monument was created by the Bosnian Slovenian sculptor Mirsad Begić.Sources
- Zvonko Bergant, Slovenski klasični liberalizem (Ljubljana: Nova revijaNova revijaNova revija is a Slovenian publishing house and cultural institute that developed from the literary journal with the same name.- The magazine :...
, 2000). - Igor Grdina, Slovenci med tradicijo in perspektivo: politični mozaik 1860-1918 (Ljubljana: Študentska založba, 2003).
- Janez Kajzer, S tramovi posprto mesto (Ljubljana: Mihelač, 1995).
- Vasilij Melik, "Ivan Hribar in njegovi Spomini", in Ivan Hribar, Moji spomini (ed. Vasilij Melik) (Ljubljana: Slovenska maticaSlovenska maticaSlovenska matica , also known as Matica slovenska, is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, founded in the 19th century as an institution for the scholarly and cultural progress of Slovenes...
, 1983–84). - Breda Mihelač, Urbanistični razvoj Ljubljane (Ljubljana: Partizanska knjiga, 1983).
- Jurij Perovšek, Liberalizem in vprašanje slovenstva: nacionalna politika liberalnega tabora v letih 1918-1929 (Ljubljana: Modrijan, 1996).