Božidar Jakac
Encyclopedia
Božidar Jakac was a Slovene Expressionist, Realist and Symbolist
painter
, graphic artist
, art teacher, photographer and filmmaker. He produced one of the most extensive oeuvres of pastel
s and oil painting
s (landscapes, veduta
s and portrait
s), drawing
s and, above all, graphics
in Slovenia
. He was also one of the key organizers in the establishment of the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts
and the International Biennal of Graphic Art in Ljubljana
.
, which was then part of Austria-Hungary
. He started painting in 1910 or 1911 when he was attending the Novo Mesto grammar school, and more seriously when he was attending the technical high school in Idrija
, which he finished in 1917. As he lacked money to continue his studies he had to set off to the Isonzo Front
to fight for the monarchy. In 1918, after the World War I
ended, his former professor Ivan Vavpotič introduced him to a prominent Slovene Impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič
, who exhibited Jakac's paintings and became his first true mentor.
From November 1919 Jakac studied painting and graphic arts
at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
(under professors Jakub Obrovský
and Franz Thiele). There, he came into contact with rich artistic tradition and versatile modern art movements that expanded his artistic horizons tremendously. During that period he also visited Paris and Bremen. He finished the postgraduate studies of graphic arts under professor August Brömse.
In 1920 Jakac returned to Novo Mesto and became the bearer of The Spring of Novo Mesto, an avant-garde
movement in literature
and fine arts, which included also the poets Miran Jarc
and Anton Podbevšek
, painter Ivan Čargo and composer Marij Kogoj
. In 1924 he settled in Ljubljana. At first, he earned his money as a woodcut
illustrator
at the liberal
newspaper Jutro and a professor of drawing
at the Second State Gymnasium in Ljubljana. Three years later he gave up his work and became an independent artist. At that time he also travelled extensively, for example to Paris
, Tunisia
, the Americas
and Norway
, and married Tatjana Gudrunova who influenced his work profoundly. In 1932, he published his memoirs and letters from America in a book entitled Odmevi rdeče zemlje ("Echoes of the Red Earth") in cooperation with his friend Miran Jarc.
In September 1943 Jakac joined the partisan resistance in the Province of Ljubljana
, where he promoted culture and education and noted the events in numerous graphics. In 1943 he participated as a deputy in the Assembly of the Slovenian Nation's Delegates in Kočevje
, which was a general constitutional convention organized by the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
in order to establish the legal basis for future political sovereignty of Slovenes. That year he was also among the Slovene deputies at the second AVNOJ Conference in Jajce
. At that time he contributed significantly to the establishment of Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts
, which was realised in 1945, and then served as its dean
for three mandates (1945–1947, 1947–1949 and later in 1959-1961) and taught graphic arts till his retirement in 1961.
In 1949 Jakac became a full member of Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts. In addition, in 1963 he became a correspondent member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb
and a correspondent member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
in Belgrade
(1963). He was also the president of the Association of Fine Artists of Yugoslavia, a republican and federal deputy, and the initiator of the International Biennal of Graphic Art in Ljubljana
.
Jakac died in Ljubljana in 1989 and is buried in Novo Mesto.
In his teenager years, he created watercolors of scenes from nature and of the Novo Mesto landscape, distinguished by reduced Realism
, Mood Impressionism and the exploration of light effects, as well as by discovery and establishment of his pastel technique.
After the departure to Prague he progressed rapidly in his artistic development and incorporated many of the elements of Cubism
, Expressionism
and Abstract art
in his works. Although he liked to picture the landscape of the Czech lands
, he preferred the poetic landscape of his home region Lower Carniola
, full of shades and veiled atmosphere.
On his travels abroad in the 1930s, Jakac photographed and painted what he saw, giving his work an important documentary value. His art slowly transformed itself into lyrical realism.
Jakac was an excellent portraitist who depicted a number of prominent Slovenes and Yugoslavs
, friends and very often also himself. In 1940 he painted a portrait of the Slovenian poet France Prešeren
, which became one of the emblematic rafigurations of the national poet. In the 1970s, his portraits were used in a series of Yugoslav postage stamps.
After the war Jakac continued to paint landscapes of the dynamic Lower Carniola. Some of Jakac's best works (The Teran Vine, The Last Stars) originate from his late period, when he created symbolistically-charged
colored woodcuts.
Jakac was essentially a black-and-white artist. His favourite painting technique was chalk pastel, which appealed to him due to its mellowness and the possibility for quick painting during his numerous travels.
Jakac was also one of the pioneers of the Slovene cinema. He produced several black-and-white documentary vedutas of Novo Mesto
, which made him the first Slovene master of camera.
Today, many of the works of Jakac are permanently exhibited in Božidar Jakac Gallery in Kostanjevica na Krki
and in Jakac House in Novo Mesto. His films are kept by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia.
four times: for his drawings collection Po sledovih 4. in 5. ofenzive ("Following the Traces of the 4th
and 5th Offensive
") in 1947, for his sepia drawing Portret Otona Župančiča ("A Portrait of Oton Župančič") in 1948, for his illustrative cycle XIV. divizija na Štajerskem ("The XIVth Division in Lower Styria
") in 1949, and for his rich exhibition activity in the past years and a vivid fine art presence in the Slovene and Yugoslav cultural space in 1980.
Jakac was named the honorary academician of Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno
in Florence
(1965) and a full member of European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities in Paris
(1982). In 1959, he was the first person bestowed the title of the honorary freeman of Novo Mesto.
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, graphic artist
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
, art teacher, photographer and filmmaker. He produced one of the most extensive oeuvres of pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
s and oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
s (landscapes, veduta
Veduta
A veduta is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting of a cityscape or some other vista....
s and portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s), drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
s and, above all, graphics
Graphics
Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings,or...
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 was also one of the key organizers in the establishment of the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts
Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana
The Academy of Fine Arts and Design , is a prestigious art academy and institution based in Ljubljana, Slovenia . It is part of the University of Ljubljana....
and the International Biennal of Graphic Art 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...
.
Biography
Jakac was born in Novo MestoNovo Mesto
Novo Mesto is a city and municipality in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered the economic and cultural centre of the historic Lower Carniola region.-Geography:...
, which was then part of 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...
. He started painting in 1910 or 1911 when he was attending the Novo Mesto grammar school, and more seriously when he was attending the technical high school in Idrija
Idrija
Idrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine and lace....
, which he finished in 1917. As he lacked money to continue his studies he had to set off to the Isonzo Front
Battles of the Isonzo
The Battles of the Isonzo were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I. They were fought along the Soča River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917...
to fight for the monarchy. In 1918, after the 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...
ended, his former professor Ivan Vavpotič introduced him to a prominent Slovene Impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič
Rihard Jakopic
Rihard Jakopič was a Slovenian painter. He was the leading Slovenian Impressionist painter and theoretician. Together with Matej Sternen, Matija Jama and Ivan Grohar, he is considered the pioneer of Slovenian impressionist painting.- Life :Jakopič was born in Ljubljana, then part of the...
, who exhibited Jakac's paintings and became his first true mentor.
From November 1919 Jakac studied painting and graphic arts
Graphic arts
A type of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of art forms. Graphic art is typically two-dimensional and includes calligraphy, photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, lithography, typography, serigraphy , and bindery. Graphic art also consists of drawn plans and layouts for interior...
at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
The Academy of Fine Arts, Prague was founded in 1799 and is the Czech Republic's oldest art college. The school offers twelve Master's degree programs and one Doctoral program.-History:...
(under professors Jakub Obrovský
Jakub Obrovský
Jakub Obrovský was a Czech artist.He was born in Brno-Bystrc and died in Prague.In 1932 he won a bronze medal for Czechoslovakia in the art competitions of the Olympics for his "Odysseus".-External links:...
and Franz Thiele). There, he came into contact with rich artistic tradition and versatile modern art movements that expanded his artistic horizons tremendously. During that period he also visited Paris and Bremen. He finished the postgraduate studies of graphic arts under professor August Brömse.
In 1920 Jakac returned to Novo Mesto and became the bearer of The Spring of Novo Mesto, an avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
movement in literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and fine arts, which included also the poets Miran Jarc
Miran Jarc
Miran Jarc was a Slovene writer, poet, playwright and essayist.Jarc was born in the town of Črnomelj in White Carniola, in what was then Austria-Hungary in 1900. He was sent to school in Novo Mesto, and between 1918 and 1922 studied Slavic philology in Zagreb and Ljubljana, though he never...
and Anton Podbevšek
Anton Podbevšek
Anton Podbevšek was a Slovenian avant-garde poet. He was an important influence to the poet Srečko Kosovel. He was one of the participants of the artistic activity known as the Novo Mesto Spring in 1920, which marked the beginning of Slovenian modernism...
, painter Ivan Čargo and composer Marij Kogoj
Marij Kogoj
thumb|right|Marij KogojMarij Kogoj was a Slovenian composer. He was a pupil of Schoenberg and Franz Schreker, and immensely popular during the 1920s, culminating with his opera Black masks....
. In 1924 he settled in Ljubljana. At first, he earned his money as a woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
at 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,...
newspaper Jutro and a professor of drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
at the Second State Gymnasium in Ljubljana. Three years later he gave up his work and became an independent artist. At that time he also travelled extensively, for example 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...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and married Tatjana Gudrunova who influenced his work profoundly. In 1932, he published his memoirs and letters from America in a book entitled Odmevi rdeče zemlje ("Echoes of the Red Earth") in cooperation with his friend Miran Jarc.
In September 1943 Jakac joined the partisan resistance in the Province of Ljubljana
Province of Ljubljana
The Province of Ljubljana was a province of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Nazi German Adriatic Littoral during World War II. It was created on May 3, 1941 from territory occupied and annexed to Italy after the Axis invasion and dissolution of Yugoslavia, and it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when...
, where he promoted culture and education and noted the events in numerous graphics. In 1943 he participated as a deputy in the Assembly of the Slovenian Nation's Delegates in Kočevje
Kocevje
Kočevje is a city and a municipality in southern Slovenia. In terms of area it is the largest municipality in Slovenia. It is located between the rivers Krka and Kolpa and is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola. It is now included in the Jugovzhodna Slovenija statistical region...
, which was a general constitutional convention organized by 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"...
in order to establish the legal basis for future political sovereignty of Slovenes. That year he was also among the Slovene deputies at the second AVNOJ Conference in Jajce
Jajce
Jajce is a city and municipality located in the central part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity...
. At that time he contributed significantly to the establishment of Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts
Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Ljubljana
The Academy of Fine Arts and Design , is a prestigious art academy and institution based in Ljubljana, Slovenia . It is part of the University of Ljubljana....
, which was realised in 1945, and then served as its dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
for three mandates (1945–1947, 1947–1949 and later in 1959-1961) and taught graphic arts till his retirement in 1961.
In 1949 Jakac became a full member of Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts. In addition, in 1963 he became a correspondent member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 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...
and a correspondent member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most prominent academic institution in Serbia today...
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...
(1963). He was also the president of the Association of Fine Artists of Yugoslavia, a republican and federal deputy, and the initiator of the International Biennal of Graphic Art 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...
.
Jakac died in Ljubljana in 1989 and is buried in Novo Mesto.
Work
Jakac's first steps in the arts were literary and musical in nature, since he was not sure yet which branch of the arts he preferred. However, as he discovered the fine art he was hooked on it once and for all.In his teenager years, he created watercolors of scenes from nature and of the Novo Mesto landscape, distinguished by reduced Realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
, Mood Impressionism and the exploration of light effects, as well as by discovery and establishment of his pastel technique.
After the departure to Prague he progressed rapidly in his artistic development and incorporated many of the elements of Cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
, Expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
and Abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
in his works. Although he liked to picture the landscape of the Czech lands
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...
, he preferred the poetic landscape of his home region Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...
, full of shades and veiled atmosphere.
On his travels abroad in the 1930s, Jakac photographed and painted what he saw, giving his work an important documentary value. His art slowly transformed itself into lyrical realism.
Jakac was an excellent portraitist who depicted a number of prominent Slovenes and Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
, friends and very often also himself. In 1940 he painted a portrait of the Slovenian poet 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....
, which became one of the emblematic rafigurations of the national poet. In the 1970s, his portraits were used in a series of Yugoslav postage stamps.
After the war Jakac continued to paint landscapes of the dynamic Lower Carniola. Some of Jakac's best works (The Teran Vine, The Last Stars) originate from his late period, when he created symbolistically-charged
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
colored woodcuts.
Jakac was essentially a black-and-white artist. His favourite painting technique was chalk pastel, which appealed to him due to its mellowness and the possibility for quick painting during his numerous travels.
Jakac was also one of the pioneers of the Slovene cinema. He produced several black-and-white documentary vedutas of Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto
Novo Mesto is a city and municipality in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered the economic and cultural centre of the historic Lower Carniola region.-Geography:...
, which made him the first Slovene master of camera.
Today, many of the works of Jakac are permanently exhibited in Božidar Jakac Gallery in Kostanjevica na Krki
Kostanjevica na Krki
Kostanjevica na Krki, also Kostanjevica ob Krki , is a small town and a municipality in the historic Lower Carniola region of southern Slovenia. It is today part of the Lower Sava statistical region....
and in Jakac House in Novo Mesto. His films are kept by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia.
Awards
Jakac received numerous local and foreign awards for his work. The most prestigious of them was the AVNOJ Award, which he won in 1967. He was also awarded the Prešeren AwardPrešeren Award
Prešeren Award is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia awarded each year to one or two eminent Slovene artists...
four times: for his drawings collection Po sledovih 4. in 5. ofenzive ("Following the Traces of the 4th
Fourth Battle of the Isonzo
The Fourth Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary on the Italian Front in World War I, between November 10 and December 2, 1915.-Overview:...
and 5th Offensive
Fifth Battle of the Isonzo
The Fifth Battle of the Isonzo was fought from March 9-15, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary. The Italians, under immense pressure from the French commanders, had decided to launch another offensive on the Soča River.-Background:After four attempts to...
") in 1947, for his sepia drawing Portret Otona Župančiča ("A Portrait of Oton Župančič") in 1948, for his illustrative cycle XIV. divizija na Štajerskem ("The XIVth Division 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...
") in 1949, and for his rich exhibition activity in the past years and a vivid fine art presence in the Slovene and Yugoslav cultural space in 1980.
Jakac was named the honorary academician of Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno
Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze
The Accademia di Belle Arti is an art academy in Florence, Italy and it is now the operative branch of the still existing Accademia delle Arti del Disegno that was the first academy of drawing in Europe.-History:The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno The Accademia di Belle Arti ("Academy of Fine...
in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
(1965) and a full member of European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities 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...
(1982). In 1959, he was the first person bestowed the title of the honorary freeman of Novo Mesto.