Bogumil Vošnjak
Encyclopedia
Bogumil Vošnjak, also known as Bogomil Vošnjak (9 September 1882 – 18 June 1955) was a Slovene and Yugoslav
jurist
, politician
, diplomat
, author
and legal historian
. He often wrote under the pseudonym
Illyricus.
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Styria
, in the Slovene branch of the notable Styrian industrialist Vošnjak/Woschnagg family. His father Miha Vošnjak, native from Šoštanj
, was one of the founders of liberal-progressive peasant cooperatives in Lower Styria
. His uncle Josip Vošnjak
, was the leader of the Slovene National Progressive Party
in Lower Styria
. He attended the elementary school in Celje and later in Graz
, where he moved with his father. He later returned to Celje, where he enrolled to the First Celje Grammar School
. In 1896 he moved to Gorizia
, where he attended the prestigious Gorizia Grammar School, graduating in 1901. He then went to Vienna
, where he studied law
at the University of Vienna
. After graduating in 1906, he continued his studies at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques
in Paris
and at the University of Heidelberg. In 1912, he got employed as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb
. It was at this time that he started using the Croatian
version of his name, Bogumil.
During his student years, Vošnjak travelled extensively. He visited Palestine
, Egypt
, Russia
and travelled throughout the Balkans
. In 1902, he published his travelogue
in Slovene under the title Zapiski mladega popotnika ("Notes of a Young Traveller").
In 1909, on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Illyrian Provinces
, Vošnjak wrote his first scientific monography, "The Constitution and Administration of the Illyrian Provinces
", which was published the following year by the prestigious Slovene publishing house Slovenska matica
. During this time, he also campaigned for the establishment of a Slovene university in Trieste
, together with his friend and professor from the Gorizia years, Henrik Tuma.
Upon the outbreak of World War I
, Vošnjak was mobilized in the Austro-Hungarian Army
and sent to the Eastern Front
in Galicia. He took advantage of a discharge in April 1915 to visit Gorizia, from where he crossed the border with Italy and fled to Venice
and from there to Switzerland
. Already in May of the same year, he published a book in French, entitled "The Question of Trieste", in which he advocated the unification of the city with a future Yugoslav state
.
In Switzerland, Vošnjak established contacts with Ante Trumbić
, a Croatian emigrant from Dalmatia
, and joined the Yugoslav Committee
, a political interest group formed by South Slavs
from Austria-Hungary aimed at the unification of the South Slavic peoples in an independent state. In 1917, he was among the signers of the Corfu Declaration
, a joined political statement of the Yugoslav Committee and the representatives of the Kingdom of Serbia
, which was the first step in the creation of Yugoslavia.
After the end of War, Vošnjak moved to Paris
, where he worked for the Yugoslav delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. In 1920, he returned to his homeland, and was elected to the constitutional assembley of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the list of the liberal
Slovene Independent Agrarian Party. In the Assembley, Vošnjak strongly advocated a centralist and monarchist framework of the new country, against most deputies from Slovenia
, Croatia
and Dalmatia
, who favoured federalism
. In February 1921, Vošnjak attacked the Autonomist Declaration, signed by some of the most prominent Slovene liberal and progressive intellectuals, who demanded cultural and political autonomy for Slovenia within Yugoslavia.
Between 1923 and 1924, he served as ambassador of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes to Czechoslovakia
. In 1924, he settled in Belgrade
. During the Nazi German occupation of Serbia between 1941 and 1944, Vošnjak supported the Chetnik underground network of general Draža Mihajlović.
After the Communists took power in Yugoslavia
in 1945, Vošnjak emigrated to the United States
. He worked at the Columbia University
Libraries and later as an expert for the House Un-American Activities Committee
. Between 1952 and 1953, he lectured at the University of California, Berkeley
on "Government and Politics in the Balkan Countries".
He died in Washington, D.C.
in 1955.
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, 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...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and legal historian
Legal history
Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and is set in the wider context of social history...
. He often wrote under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Illyricus.
Biography
He was born as Bogomil Vošnjak in CeljeCelje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Styria
Duchy of Styria
The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...
, in the Slovene branch of the notable Styrian industrialist Vošnjak/Woschnagg family. His father Miha Vošnjak, native from Šoštanj
Šoštanj
Šoštanj is a town and municipality in northern Slovenia. It was first mentioned in written documents dating to around 1200 as Schönstein in relation to its castle. As a market town it was first mentioned in 1348. It was given town status in 1919 and until the 1960s was the center of the Šalek...
, was one of the founders of liberal-progressive peasant cooperatives in Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
. His uncle Josip Vošnjak
Josip Vošnjak
Josip Vošnjak was a Slovene politician and author, leader of the Slovene National Movement in the Duchy of Styria, and one of the most prominent representatives of the Young Slovene movement....
, was the leader of the Slovene 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...
in Lower Styria
Lower Styria
Lower Styria or Slovenian Styria is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of Lower Styria in its historical boundaries amounts to around 705,000 inhabitants, or 34.5% of the population of Slovenia...
. He attended the elementary school in Celje and later in Graz
Graz
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...
, where he moved with his father. He later returned to Celje, where he enrolled to the First Celje Grammar School
First Grammar School, Celje
First Grammar School in Celje is a coeducational nondenominational state secondary general education school for students aged between 15 to 19 in Celje, Slovenia. It was the first high school built in the region, established in 1808 by the Austrian Empire. Initially, the language of instruction...
. In 1896 he moved to Gorizia
Gorizia
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...
, where he attended the prestigious Gorizia Grammar School, graduating in 1901. He then went to 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 studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
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...
. After graduating in 1906, he continued his studies at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques
École Libre des Sciences Politiques
École Libre des Sciences Politiques , often referred to as the École des Sciences Politiques or simply Sciences Po was created in Paris in February 1872 by a group of European intellectuals, politicians and businessmen, which included Hippolyte Taine, Ernest Renan, Albert Sorel, Pierre Paul...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and at the University of Heidelberg. In 1912, he got employed as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
. It was at this time that he started using the Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
version of his name, Bogumil.
During his student years, Vošnjak travelled extensively. He visited Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, 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...
and travelled throughout the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. In 1902, he published his travelogue
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
in Slovene under the title Zapiski mladega popotnika ("Notes of a Young Traveller").
In 1909, on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Illyrian Provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
, Vošnjak wrote his first scientific monography, "The Constitution and Administration of the Illyrian Provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
", which was published the following year by the prestigious Slovene publishing house Slovenska matica
Slovenska matica
Slovenska 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...
. During this time, he also campaigned for the establishment of a Slovene university in 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...
, together with his friend and professor from the Gorizia years, Henrik Tuma.
Upon the outbreak of 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...
, Vošnjak was mobilized in 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...
and sent to the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
in Galicia. He took advantage of a discharge in April 1915 to visit Gorizia, from where he crossed the border with Italy and fled to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and from there 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....
. Already in May of the same year, he published a book in French, entitled "The Question of Trieste", in which he advocated the unification of the city with a future Yugoslav state
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.
In Switzerland, Vošnjak established contacts with Ante Trumbić
Ante Trumbic
Ante Trumbić was a Croatian politician in the early 20th century. He was one of the key politicians in the creation of a Yugoslav state....
, a Croatian emigrant from 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....
, and joined the Yugoslav Committee
Yugoslav Committee
Yugoslav Committee was a political interest group formed by South Slavs from Austria-Hungary during World War I aimed at joining the existing south Slavic nations in an independent state.Founding members included:* Frano Supilo* Ante Trumbić...
, a political interest group formed by 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...
from Austria-Hungary aimed at the unification of the South Slavic peoples in an independent state. In 1917, he was among the signers of the Corfu Declaration
Corfu Declaration
The Corfu Declaration is the agreement that made the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia possible. In 1916, the Serbian Parliament in exile decided the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at a meeting inside the Municipal Theatre of Corfu, Greece...
, a joined political statement of the Yugoslav Committee and the representatives of the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
, which was the first step in the creation of Yugoslavia.
After the end of War, Vošnjak moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he worked for the Yugoslav delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. In 1920, he returned to his homeland, and was elected to the constitutional assembley of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the list of the 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,...
Slovene Independent Agrarian Party. In the Assembley, Vošnjak strongly advocated a centralist and monarchist framework of the new country, against most deputies from 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...
, 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 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....
, who favoured federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
. In February 1921, Vošnjak attacked the Autonomist Declaration, signed by some of the most prominent Slovene liberal and progressive intellectuals, who demanded cultural and political autonomy for Slovenia within Yugoslavia.
Between 1923 and 1924, he served as ambassador of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 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 1924, he settled 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...
. During the Nazi German occupation of Serbia between 1941 and 1944, Vošnjak supported the Chetnik underground network of general Draža Mihajlović.
After the Communists took power in 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,...
in 1945, Vošnjak emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He worked at the Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Libraries and later as an expert for the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
. Between 1952 and 1953, he lectured at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
on "Government and Politics in the Balkan Countries".
He died in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1955.
Major works
- Zapiski mladega popotnika ("Notes of a Young Traveller"; Gorizia, 1902)
- Na razsvitu: ruske študije ("In the Land on the Dawn: Russian Studies"; LjubljanaLjubljanaLjubljana 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...
, 1906) - Ustava in uprava Ilirskih provinc ("Constitution and Administration of the Illyrian Provinces"; Ljubljana, 1910)
- La Question de Trieste ("The TriesteTriesteTrieste 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...
Question"; Geneva, 1915) - Yugoslav Nationalism, with the preface by Michael Ernest SadlerMichael Ernest SadlerSir Michael Ernest Sadler KCSI was a British historian, educationalist and university administrator. He worked at the universities of Manchester and Leeds. He was a champion of the public school system.-Early life and education:...
(London, 1916) - A Bulwark Against Germany (London, 1917)
- A chapter of the Old Slovenian Democracy, with the preface by Niko Županič (London, 1917)
- L'administration française dans les pays yougoslaves (1809-1813) ("The French Administration in the Yugoslav Lands (1809-1813)"; Paris, 1917)
- A Dying Empire: Central Europe, Pan-Germanism, and the Downfall of Austria-Hungary, with the preface by T. P. O'ConnorT. P. O'ConnorThomas Power O'Connor , known as T. P. O'Connor and occasionally as Tay Pay, was a journalist, an Irish nationalist political figure, and a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for nearly fifty years.-Biography:O'Connor was born in...
(London, 1918) - Les origines du Royaume des Serbes, Croates et Slovènes ("The Origines of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes"; Paris, 1919)
- La question de L' Adriatique : le comté de Goritz et de Gradisca ("The Adriatic Question: the County of Gorizia and Gradisca"; Paris, 1919)
- U borbi za ujedinjenu narodnu državu ("The Fight for a Unified National State"; Ljubljana, 1928)
- Pobeda Jugoslavije: nacionalne misli i predlozi ("The Victory of Yugoslavia: National Thoughts and Proposals"; Belgrade, 1929)
- Tri Jugoslavije ("The Three Yugoslavias"; Ljubljana, 1939)
Sources
- Božo Repe: From the Versailles Conference to the Osimo Agreements
- "Vošnjak, Bogumil" in Slovenski biografski leksikon ed. by Izidor CankarIzidor CankarIzidor Cankar was a Slovenian author, art historian, diplomat, publicist, translator, and liberal conservative politician...
(Ljubljana: Zadružna gospodarska banka & Slovenian Academy of Sciences and ArtsSlovenian Academy of Sciences and ArtsThe Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy....
, 1925-1990) - Slovenska kronika XX. stoletja, 1900-1941 (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 :...
, 1995)