Mihajlo Rostohar
Encyclopedia
Mihajlo Rostohar was a Slovenia
n psychologist
, author and educator, who played an important role during the creation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
. Together with Ivan Hribar
and Danilo Majaron, he had a crucial role in the establishment of the University of Ljubljana
.
near Krško
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Carniola
. He frequented high school (gymnasium
) in Ljubljana
and Kranj
. He studied philosophy at the University of Graz
with Alexius Meinong
and later in Vienna
, where he graduated in 1905. After working for a year as a supplementary high school teacher in Villach
, he decided to pursue an academic career, following the advice of the Austrian philosopher Friedrich Jodl. He continued his studies in Prague
, Leipzig
(under the supervision of Wilhelm Wundt
), Halle and Berlin
. He obtained his habilitation
at the Charles University of Prague.
After participating in the Italian campaign
during World War I
, he was involved in the formation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
in 1918. In 1919, he moved to Czechoslovakia
, where he continued his academic career. After the Nazi German takeover of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, he returned to Slovenia. After World War Two, he went back to Czechoslovakia, but returned to Yugoslavia
in 1948.
He died in Golek
near Krško in Slovenia.
An elementary school in Krško is named after him.
. He was close to progressive ideas, but unlike many other Slovene followers of Masaryk, he did not join the Social democratic party, but moved closer to national liberal positions.
During the First Balkan War
, he publicly supported the idea of an autonomous Albania
, with similar arguments as the Austria-Hungarian diplomacy. Because of this, he was attacked by the Slovene language press. In Rostohar's defense, the writer Ivan Cankar
produced his famous lecture Slovenes and Yugoslavs, delivered in Ljubljana in 1913.
At the end of First World War there were numerous military units of the Army of Austria-Hungary on the territory of the Duchy of Carniola
. Many of these soldiers and officers
were Slovenians
. During October 1918 there were mass desertions among them. On October 28, 1918 members of the Slovenian National council gathered in the hotel Union and agreed to organize a political rally on the Congress Square
for the next day. Despite the fact that soldiers and officers were not allowed to participate in the rally on October 29, 1918, around 200 soldiers and officers were in the crowd. Mihajlo Rostohar climbed to the balcony, where leaders of the rally spoke to the gathered people, and shouted:
“We soldiers renounce Austria and swear obedience to the state of our nation, to Yugoslavia!”
Then, on the night between October 29 and 30 1918, he gathered some other Slovenian soldiers and officers, and also soldiers and officers from the 53rd regiment from Zagreb
who got off the train
that was transporting them through Ljubljana
and joined them. Together with prisoners of war from Serbia
and Russia
they had liberated, there were around 600 of them. Rostohar used them to surround the barracks
in Kodeljevo and disarm a batallion of the Austro-Hungarian army from Hungary
on the same night.
After the first success in taking over control of the Ljubljana, Slovenian officers and soldiers were very much afraid of the army under control of the Austro-Hungarian field marshal Svetozar Borojević. Therefore Rostohar organized Slovenian officers to prepare flyers printed in different languages to invite soldiers under command of Svetozar Borojević to go peacefully home, and not to start conflicts. Those activities helped in the peaceful take over of the control of Ljubljana.
under professor Alexius Meinong
, and he received his PhD in Vienna
in 1906 after defending his thesis — Über die Hypothese. Ihre wissenschaftliche Bedeutung. (About the hypothesis. Its scientific importance.). He also studied in Prague
where he started teaching in 1911 in Prague as associate professor at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, after he defended his work on logic — Theory of Hypothetical Judgement in 1910. In 1919 he was one of the initiators for establishing the University of Ljubljana
. He drew up the first statute of the University and made plans for establishing the Psychological Institute in Slovenia. Despite all those activities he was not elected a professor. Therefore he left Ljubljana and started teaching in Brno
at Masaryk University
until 1939 and after Second World War till 1948. From 1948 he taught at the University of Ljubljana as chief of the Psychology department. He was the founder of empirical psychology and many psychological subjects. He was author of many works published on Check, German
, French
, Serbo-Croatian
and Slovenian
.
Rostohar used his professional education to analyze the moral
meaning of nation
. He believed that the core of nationality is the awareness of belonging and the feeling that such awareness generates.
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...
n psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, author and educator, who played an important role during the creation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
. Together with Ivan Hribar
Ivan Hribar
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...
and Danilo Majaron, he had a crucial 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:...
.
Biography
He was born in a peasant family in BregeBrege
Brege is a small village to the south of Krško in eastern Slovenia. The area was traditionally part of Lower Carniola. It is now included with the rest of the municipality in the Spodnjeposavska statistical region.-External links:*...
near Krško
Krško
Krško is a town and municipality in eastern Slovenia. The town lies on the Sava River. The area is traditionally divided between Lower Styria and Lower Carniola...
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Carniola
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...
. He frequented high school (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 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...
and Kranj
Kranj
' 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...
. He studied philosophy at the University of Graz
University of Graz
The University of Graz , a university located in Graz, Austria, is the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria....
with Alexius Meinong
Alexius Meinong
Alexius Meinong was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology...
and later 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...
, where he graduated in 1905. After working for a year as a supplementary high school teacher in Villach
Villach
Villach is the second largest city in the Carinthia state in the southern Austria, at the Drava River and represents an important traffic junction for Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 58,480.-History:...
, he decided to pursue an academic career, following the advice of the Austrian philosopher Friedrich Jodl. He continued his studies in 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...
, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
(under the supervision of Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt was a German physician, psychologist, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the founding figures of modern psychology. He is widely regarded as the "father of experimental psychology"...
), Halle and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. He obtained his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
at the Charles University of Prague.
After participating in the Italian campaign
Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol , the...
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...
, he was involved in the formation of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
in 1918. In 1919, he moved 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...
, where he continued his academic career. After the Nazi German takeover of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, he returned to Slovenia. After World War Two, he went back to Czechoslovakia, but returned 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....
in 1948.
He died in Golek
Golek, Krško
Golek is a settlement in the hills to the northwest of Leskovec pri Krškem in the Krško municipality in eastern Slovenia. The area was traditionally part of Lower Carniola. It is now included in the Spodnjeposavska statistical region....
near Krško in Slovenia.
An elementary school in Krško is named after him.
Political career
Rostohar was active in the Slovene public life. Together with many other Slovene students from Prague, he helped introducing the political and social thought of Tomáš G. Masaryk to the Slovene LandsSlovene 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.-...
. He was close to progressive ideas, but unlike many other Slovene followers of Masaryk, he did not join the Social democratic party, but moved closer to national liberal positions.
During the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
, he publicly supported the idea of an autonomous Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
, with similar arguments as the Austria-Hungarian diplomacy. Because of this, he was attacked by the Slovene language press. In Rostohar's defense, the writer Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slovene literature...
produced his famous lecture Slovenes and Yugoslavs, delivered in Ljubljana in 1913.
At the end of First World War there were numerous military units of the Army of Austria-Hungary on the territory of the Duchy of Carniola
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...
. Many of these soldiers and officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
were Slovenians
Slovenians
The Slovenes, Slovene people, Slovenians, or Slovenian people are a South Slavic people primarily associated with Slovenia and the Slovene language.-Population:Most Slovenes today live within the borders of the independent Slovenia...
. During October 1918 there were mass desertions among them. On October 28, 1918 members of the Slovenian National council gathered in the hotel Union and agreed to organize a political rally on the Congress Square
Congress Square
Congress Square is one of the central squares in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.The square was built in 1821 at the site of the ruins of a medieval Capuchin monastery, which had been abolished during the reign of Habsburg Emperor Joseph II. The square was used for ceremonial purposes during...
for the next day. Despite the fact that soldiers and officers were not allowed to participate in the rally on October 29, 1918, around 200 soldiers and officers were in the crowd. Mihajlo Rostohar climbed to the balcony, where leaders of the rally spoke to the gathered people, and shouted:
“We soldiers renounce Austria and swear obedience to the state of our nation, to Yugoslavia!”
Then, on the night between October 29 and 30 1918, he gathered some other Slovenian soldiers and officers, and also soldiers and officers from the 53rd regiment from Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
who got off the train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
that was transporting them through 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...
and joined them. Together with prisoners of war from Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
they had liberated, there were around 600 of them. Rostohar used them to surround the barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
in Kodeljevo and disarm a batallion of the Austro-Hungarian army from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
on the same night.
After the first success in taking over control of the Ljubljana, Slovenian officers and soldiers were very much afraid of the army under control of the Austro-Hungarian field marshal Svetozar Borojević. Therefore Rostohar organized Slovenian officers to prepare flyers printed in different languages to invite soldiers under command of Svetozar Borojević to go peacefully home, and not to start conflicts. Those activities helped in the peaceful take over of the control of Ljubljana.
Psychologist career
Rostohar studed in Vienna and GrazGraz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
under professor Alexius Meinong
Alexius Meinong
Alexius Meinong was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology...
, and he received his PhD 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...
in 1906 after defending his thesis — Über die Hypothese. Ihre wissenschaftliche Bedeutung. (About the hypothesis. Its scientific importance.). He also studied in 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...
where he started teaching in 1911 in Prague as associate professor at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, after he defended his work on logic — Theory of Hypothetical Judgement in 1910. In 1919 he was one of the initiators for establishing 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:...
. He drew up the first statute of the University and made plans for establishing the Psychological Institute in Slovenia. Despite all those activities he was not elected a professor. Therefore he left Ljubljana and started teaching in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
at Masaryk University
Masaryk University
Masaryk University is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the third Czech university , it now consists of nine faculties and 42,182 students...
until 1939 and after Second World War till 1948. From 1948 he taught at the University of Ljubljana as chief of the Psychology department. He was the founder of empirical psychology and many psychological subjects. He was author of many works published on Check, German
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....
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
and Slovenian
Slovenian language
Slovene or Slovenian is a South Slavic language spoken by approximately 2.5 million speakers worldwide, the majority of whom live in Slovenia. It is the first language of about 1.85 million people and is one of the 23 official and working languages of the European Union...
.
Rostohar used his professional education to analyze the moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
meaning of nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
. He believed that the core of nationality is the awareness of belonging and the feeling that such awareness generates.
Selected works
- Uvod v znanstveno mišljenje (1910)
- Theorie hypotetickeho soudu (1910) - Theory of Hypothetical Judgement
- Nationality and its moral significance (1913)
- Za novi socializem (1923)
- Studiez vyvojové psyhologie. Dil 1 (1928)
- Psychologcké zaklady počatečniho čteni s praktickym návodem ke čteni (1934)
- Psyhologie sociàlni (1948)
- Psychopatologie (1948)
- Psychologie jako veda o subjektivni skotečnosti (1950)
- Obča psiholgija (1951)
- Socialna psihologija (1952)
- Pedopsihologija (1953)
- Osnove obče psihologije (1964)
- Osnove socialne psihologije(1965)
- Psihologija (1966)