Ljubo Sirc
Encyclopedia
Ljubo Sirc CBE
(born in 1920) is a British
-Slovene economist
and prominent dissident
from the former Yugoslavia
.
, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in a wealthy and renowned family of Slovene and Yugoslav
patriots. His grandfather was a liberal
and monarchist politician and mayor of Kranj, and his father was a local entrepreneur.
After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia
, Sirc managed to escape to Switzerland
where he established contact with other Yugoslav emigrants. In Summer 1944, after the Tito-Šubašić agreement
, he joined the Yugoslav Resistance and served in the Yugoslav Army in Dalmatia
, Croatia
, and Slovenia
until 1945. After the establishment of the Communist regime he joined other liberals and social democrats who tried to form a legal political opposition to the regime. In 1947, due to his political activity and friendship with Western diplomats, he was tried in the "Nagode show trial" and sentenced to death. His sentence was ultimately commuted
to twenty years in prison, of which he served seven, much of it in solitary confinement
. He spent his time in assiduous reading; he became an expert in Marxist political and economic thought, and he was also able to read the most up-to-date Western, especially English and American, economic literature, provided to him by the Slovenian communists in order to translate it for "internal security purposes."
After his release, he escaped to Italy
with the help of former TIGR
member Stanislav Kamenšček. From there, he moved to the United Kingdom
, where he started an academic career. In his various teaching posts since then, including twenty years at the University of Glasgow
, Sirc has been a leading expert on socialist economics
and communist regimes. He is one of the founders of the Centre for Research into Communist Economies (CRCE) in London
and as of 2006 its current director. For many years, he lectured in Political Economy
at Glasgow University.
In 1962, Sirc was among the co-founders of the opposition platform Democratic Alternative, together with a group of Serb, Croat and Bosniak pro-Yugoslav emigrants.
. He then endorsed Slovenia's decision to break from the Yugoslav Federation.
In 1992, he ran for President of Slovenia
with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDS), but received less than 2% of the vote. He later claimed that he had been fooled into accepting the candidacy: he believed, according to his account, that the party had really accepted an economically
and politically liberal program, while in reality, he claimed, it remained strongly linked to the former Communist establishment. In fact, as subsequent polls showed, the great majority of the Liberal Democratic Party's voters voted for Milan Kučan
in the presidential elections.
Sirc later sharply criticized both Janez Drnovšek
and Milan Kučan, accusing them of hindering the development of an Open Society
in Slovenia. In the late 1990s, he collaborated with the writer Drago Jančar
and historians Vasko Simoniti
and Alenka Puhar
in staging an influential exhibition on human rights violations in Communist Slovenia
, called Temna stran meseca ("The Dark Side of the Moon").
In 2004, he was among the co-founders of the liberal conservative civic platform Rally for the Republic . In the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2004, he publicly supported the Slovenian Democratic Party
. In May 2010, he became a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party.
He lives in Glasgow
's West End and regularly visits his homeland.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born in 1920) is a British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
-Slovene economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and prominent dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
from the former Yugoslavia
Former Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
.
Life and work
He was born in KranjKranj
' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...
, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in a wealthy and renowned family of Slovene and Yugoslav
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
patriots. His grandfather was a liberal
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,...
and monarchist politician and mayor of Kranj, and his father was a local entrepreneur.
After the Axis 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...
, Sirc managed to escape to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
where he established contact with other Yugoslav emigrants. In Summer 1944, after the Tito-Šubašić agreement
Tito-Šubašic Agreement
The Treaty of Vis , also known as the Tito-Šubašić Agreement, was an attempt by the Western Powers to merge the royal Yugoslav government in exile with the Communist-led Partisans who were fighting the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia in the Second World War and were de facto rulers on the liberated...
, he joined the Yugoslav Resistance and served in the Yugoslav Army in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, and 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...
until 1945. After the establishment of the Communist regime he joined other liberals and social democrats who tried to form a legal political opposition to the regime. In 1947, due to his political activity and friendship with Western diplomats, he was tried in the "Nagode show trial" and sentenced to death. His sentence was ultimately commuted
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
to twenty years in prison, of which he served seven, much of it in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
. He spent his time in assiduous reading; he became an expert in Marxist political and economic thought, and he was also able to read the most up-to-date Western, especially English and American, economic literature, provided to him by the Slovenian communists in order to translate it for "internal security purposes."
After his release, he escaped to 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...
with the help of former TIGR
TIGR
TIGR, abbreviation for Trst , Istra , Gorica and Reka , with the full name Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March T.I.G.R. was a militant anti-Fascist and insurgent organization active in the 1920s and the 1930s in the eastern Italian border region known as the Julian March.The...
member Stanislav Kamenšček. From there, he moved to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where he started an academic career. In his various teaching posts since then, including twenty years at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, Sirc has been a leading expert on socialist economics
Socialist economics
Socialist economics are the economic theories and practices of hypothetical and existing socialist economic systems.A socialist economy is based on public ownership or independent cooperative ownership of the means of production, wherein production is carried out to directly produce use-value,...
and communist regimes. He is one of the founders of the Centre for Research into Communist Economies (CRCE) in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and as of 2006 its current director. For many years, he lectured in Political Economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
at Glasgow University.
In 1962, Sirc was among the co-founders of the opposition platform Democratic Alternative, together with a group of Serb, Croat and Bosniak pro-Yugoslav emigrants.
Activity in post-Communist Slovenia
Since the fall of the Communist regime in Slovenia, Sirc has been active in Slovenian public life, writing articles, giving interviews, and commenting on political developments and economic issues. In 1990 and 1991, his opposition to the independence of Slovenia caused some controversy. Sirc supported a unified and democratic Yugoslavia and, although he admitted this solution was not feasible at the time, he refused to uphold the idea of an independent Slovenia until the outbreak of the Ten-Day WarTen-Day War
The Ten-Day War or the Slovenian Independence War was a military conflict between the Slovenian Territorial Defence and the Yugoslav People's Army in 1991 following Slovenia's declaration of independence.-Background:...
. He then endorsed Slovenia's decision to break from the Yugoslav Federation.
In 1992, he ran for President of Slovenia
President of Slovenia
The function of President of the Republic of Slovenia was established on 23 December 1991, when the National Assembly of Slovenia passed a new constitution as a result of independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal political party in Slovenia. It is led by Katarina Kresal and is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party...
(LDS), but received less than 2% of the vote. He later claimed that he had been fooled into accepting the candidacy: he believed, according to his account, that the party had really accepted an economically
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...
and politically liberal program, while in reality, he claimed, it remained strongly linked to the former Communist establishment. In fact, as subsequent polls showed, the great majority of the Liberal Democratic Party's voters voted for Milan Kučan
Milan Kucan
Milan Kučan is a Slovenian politician and statesman. He was the first President of Slovenia.-Early life and political beginnings:...
in the presidential elections.
Sirc later sharply criticized both Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Prime Minister of Slovenia and President of Slovenia . He was born in Celje, Slovenia, then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...
and Milan Kučan, accusing them of hindering the development of an Open Society
Open society
The open society is a concept originally developed by philosopher Henri Bergson and then by Austrian and British philosopher Karl Popper. In open societies, government is purported to be responsive and tolerant, and political mechanisms are said to be transparent and flexible...
in Slovenia. In the late 1990s, he collaborated with the writer Drago Jančar
Drago Jancar
Drago Jančar is a Slovenian writer, playwright and essayist. Jančar is one of the most known contemporary Slovene writers. In Slovenia, he is also famous for his political commentaries and civic engagement.-Life:...
and historians Vasko Simoniti
Vasko Simoniti
Vasko Simoniti is a Slovenian historian and politician. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as the Minister of Culture of Slovenia...
and Alenka Puhar
Alenka Puhar
Alenka Puhar is a Slovenian journalist, author, translator, and historian. She is known for her columns in the Slovenian journal Delo, for her writings on the dissident movements in Socialist Slovenia and Yugoslavia, as well as for her book "The Primary Text of Life" , a combination of...
in staging an influential exhibition on human rights violations in Communist Slovenia
Socialist Republic of Slovenia
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until 1990...
, called Temna stran meseca ("The Dark Side of the Moon").
In 2004, he was among the co-founders of the liberal conservative civic platform Rally for the Republic . In the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2004, he publicly supported the Slovenian Democratic Party
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
. In May 2010, he became a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party.
He lives in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
's West End and regularly visits his homeland.
Books
- Between Hitler and Tito (autobiography, 1989)
- Economic Devolution in Eastern Europe
- Yugoslav Economy Under Self-Management
- What Must Gorbachev Do?
See also
- TitoismTitoismTitoism is a variant of Marxism–Leninism named after Josip Broz Tito, leader of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, primarily used to describe the specific socialist system built in Yugoslavia after its refusal of the 1948 Resolution of the Cominform, when the Communist Party of...
- Communist Party of Yugoslavia
- Liberalism in SloveniaLiberalism in SloveniaThis article gives an overview of liberalism in Slovenia. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme...
- Mitja RibičičMitja RibičičMitja Ribičič is a former Slovenian Communist official and Yugoslav politician. He was the only Slovenian prime minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
- Pavle Gantar