Izidor Cankar
Encyclopedia
Izidor Cankar was a Slovenia
n author
, art historian, diplomat
, publicist
, translator, and liberal conservative politician. He was one of the most important Slovenian art historians of the first part of the 20th century, and one of the most influential cultural managers in interwar Slovenia.
, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
(now part of the Serbia
n province of Vojvodina
). His father, Andrej Cankar, was a Slovene tradesman from Inner Carniola, while his mother, Marija Huber, was from a mixed Danube Swabian
-Croat
family. Izidor's cousin of the famous writer Ivan Cankar
. At the age of seven, his father went bancrupt. Young Izidor was taken into fostering by his aunt Karolina Hofberg. Cankar grew up in a multicultural environment, and spoke Croatian
, German
and Hungarian
since a young age. He attended Croatian-language schools, and throughout his life, he claimed his Croatian was better than his Slovene. In 1897, his cousins Ivan
and Karlo Cankar convinced him to move to Ljubljana
, where he attended the Classical Lyceum. In 1905, after finishing high school, he decided to become a priest and enrolled to the Roman Catholic seminary in Ljubljana. There, he met the theologian Andrej Kalan, who had a decisive influence on Cankar's future intellectual development.
After finishing the study of theology
in Ljubljana in 1909, he enrolled to the University of Louvain where he studied esthetics. During this period, he also spent time in London
and in Paris
. In 1910, he went enrolled at the University of Graz
, where he studied philosophy. In 1913, he obtained a PhD in art history at the University of Vienna
with a thesis on the Italian baroque painter Giulio Quaglio
which he wrote under the supervision of the Slovene art historian France Stele. The same year he returned to Ljubljana, where he became the editor of the Catholic journal Dom in svet
, transforming it into the most prestiogious literary magazine in the Slovene Lands
. Between 1918 and 1919, he worked as the chief editor of the conservative daily Slovenec, the most widespread Slovenian newspaper of the time. During the same period, he became active in the Slovene People's Party
, taking part in the negotiations for the unification of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
with the Kingdom of Serbia
.
After the formation of a unified Yugoslav state
, he continued his studies in Vienna
under Max Dvořák
. In 1920, he returned to Ljubljana, where he became the director of the newly established Slovenian National Gallery. In 1923, he became professor at the University of Ljubljana
. During the same period, he decided to leave the priesthood. He finally succeeded in his intents in 1926, and married to Marija Šumi from a wealthy Ljubljana family.
In 1933, he founded the Slovenian section of the International P.E.N., and served as its first president until 1935. In May 1933, during the XIth congress of the international P. E. N. Club in Dubrovnik
, Cankar voted for the expulsion of pro-Nazi writers from the organization, differently from the Croatian and Serbian representatives. In the same time, he became a close friend of the Yugoslav sculptor Ivan Meštrović
, and served as the godfather of his second daughter. In the late 1930s, he convinced his wife's family to donate money for the construction of the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana, of which he served as supervisor.
. He was in Buenos Aires
during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia
in April 1941. In 1942, the Yugoslav government in exile named him ambassador to Canada
. In 1944, he resigned protest against the policies of the Prime Minister Božidar Purić who continued to support the Serbian Chetnik resistance movement of Draža Mihajlović even after the disclosure of his collaboration with the Nazi Germans in the fight against Tito's partisans. The Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King offered him a post in the Canadian foreign service, but Cankar declined. After the signature of Treaty of Vis between the newly appointed Yugoslav Prime Minister in exile Ivan Šubašić
and the Yugoslav Communist resistance leader Josip Broz Tito
in June 1944, Cankar was named Minister of Culture and Telecommunication in the new coalition government. He however resigned in Autumn of the same year after failing to convince the leadership of the Slovene People's Party
to recognize the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People
, and join forces with the Yugoslav partisans.
In February 1945, he went to the liberated Belgrade
, and was named ambassador to Greece
. In 1947, he returned to Ljubljana
, where he worked as a consultant for the National Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. He was critical to the Communist regime, but did not engage in any political action. In 1953, he became member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
. He died in Ljubljana in 1958, aged 72, and was buried in the Žale
cemetery.
, Rihard Jakopič
, Fran Saleški Finžgar
, Ivan Tavčar
, Oton Župančič
, Franc Ksaver Meško, and others). In 1913, he wrote his only major literary work, the essayistic novel, S poti (On the Way), written as a travelogue through Italy
.
In 1926, Cankar published a major treatise in art history, Uvod v umevanje likovne umetnosti (An Introduction to the Understanding of Figurative Art), where he developed a systematic stylistic typology based on the theories of Heinrich Wölfflin
. In the same year, he started publishing his magnum opus
, Zgodovina likovne umetnosti v zahodni Evropi (History of Figurative Art in Western Europe), in which he applied his own esthetic theory in the overview of western art between late antiquity
and the Renaissance
. Between 1926 and 1936, he published the first critical edition of collected works of the writer Ivan Cankar
, his cousin. In 1948, he also published Ivan Cankar's correspondence.
Izidor Cankar was also a translator: among other, he translated works of Jonathan Swift
, André Maurois
and Immanuel Kant
.
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 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:...
, art historian, 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...
, publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
, translator, and liberal conservative politician. He was one of the most important Slovenian art historians of the first part of the 20th century, and one of the most influential cultural managers in interwar Slovenia.
Early life
Izidor Cankar was born in ŠidŠid
Šid is a town and municipality in the Srem District of Vojvodina, Serbia. Šid town has a population of 16,301, and Šid municipality 38,921.-Name:...
, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia or Croatia Slavonia was an autonomous kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was part of the Hungarian Kingdom within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen or Transleithania...
(now part of the 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...
n province of Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
). His father, Andrej Cankar, was a Slovene tradesman from Inner Carniola, while his mother, Marija Huber, was from a mixed Danube Swabian
Danube Swabians
The Danube Swabians is a collective term for the German-speaking population who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially alongside the Danube River valley. Because of different developments within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people...
-Croat
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
family. Izidor's cousin of the famous 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...
. At the age of seven, his father went bancrupt. Young Izidor was taken into fostering by his aunt Karolina Hofberg. Cankar grew up in a multicultural environment, and spoke 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...
, 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....
and Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
since a young age. He attended Croatian-language schools, and throughout his life, he claimed his Croatian was better than his Slovene. In 1897, his cousins Ivan
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...
and Karlo Cankar convinced him to move to 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...
, where he attended the Classical Lyceum. In 1905, after finishing high school, he decided to become a priest and enrolled to the Roman Catholic seminary in Ljubljana. There, he met the theologian Andrej Kalan, who had a decisive influence on Cankar's future intellectual development.
After finishing the study of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
in Ljubljana in 1909, he enrolled to the University of Louvain where he studied esthetics. During this period, he also spent time 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 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...
. In 1910, he went enrolled 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....
, where he studied philosophy. In 1913, he obtained a PhD in art history 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...
with a thesis on the Italian baroque painter Giulio Quaglio
Giulio Quaglio (painter)
Giulio Quaglio the elder was an Italian painter of frescoes.He was a follower of Tintoretto. He is known to have worked in Vienna, Salzburg, and Ljubljana. His son, Giulio the younger, was born in Como and established himself in the Friuli about the end of the 17th century. He is best known for...
which he wrote under the supervision of the Slovene art historian France Stele. The same year he returned to Ljubljana, where he became the editor of the Catholic journal Dom in svet
Dom in svet
Dom in svet was a Catholic cultural and literary journal in Slovenia, published from 1888 to 1943. Its long-running rivalry with the national-liberal journal Ljubljanski zvon was a major feature of Slovenian cultural life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; historian Péter Krasztev...
, transforming it into the most prestiogious literary magazine in the Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
. Between 1918 and 1919, he worked as the chief editor of the conservative daily Slovenec, the most widespread Slovenian newspaper of the time. During the same period, he became active in the Slovene People's Party
Slovene People's Party (historical)
The Slovene People's Party was a Slovenian political party in the 19th and 20th centuries, active in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Between 1907 and 1941, it was the largest and arguably the most influential political party in the Slovene Lands...
, taking part in the negotiations for the unification 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...
with 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...
.
After the formation of a unified Yugoslav state
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, he continued his studies 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...
under Max Dvořák
Max Dvorák
Max Dvořák was a Czech-born Austrian art historian...
. In 1920, he returned to Ljubljana, where he became the director of the newly established Slovenian National Gallery. In 1923, he became professor at 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:...
. During the same period, he decided to leave the priesthood. He finally succeeded in his intents in 1926, and married to Marija Šumi from a wealthy Ljubljana family.
In 1933, he founded the Slovenian section of the International P.E.N., and served as its first president until 1935. In May 1933, during the XIth congress of the international P. E. N. Club in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
, Cankar voted for the expulsion of pro-Nazi writers from the organization, differently from the Croatian and Serbian representatives. In the same time, he became a close friend of the Yugoslav sculptor Ivan Meštrović
Ivan Meštrovic
Ivan Meštrović was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor and architect born in Vrpolje, Croatia...
, and served as the godfather of his second daughter. In the late 1930s, he convinced his wife's family to donate money for the construction of the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana, of which he served as supervisor.
Diplomatic and political career
In 1936, Cankar was named Yugoslav ambassador in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. He was in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
during 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...
in April 1941. In 1942, the Yugoslav government in exile named him ambassador to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 1944, he resigned protest against the policies of the Prime Minister Božidar Purić who continued to support the Serbian Chetnik resistance movement of Draža Mihajlović even after the disclosure of his collaboration with the Nazi Germans in the fight against Tito's partisans. The Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King offered him a post in the Canadian foreign service, but Cankar declined. After the signature of Treaty of Vis between the newly appointed Yugoslav Prime Minister in exile Ivan Šubašić
Ivan Šubašic
Ivan Šubašić was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician, best known as the last Ban of Banovina of Croatia.He was born in Vukova Gorica, then in Austria-Hungary. He finished grammar and high school in Zagreb, and enrolled onto the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zagreb...
and the Yugoslav Communist resistance leader Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
in June 1944, Cankar was named Minister of Culture and Telecommunication in the new coalition government. He however resigned in Autumn of the same year after failing to convince the leadership of the Slovene People's Party
Slovene People's Party (historical)
The Slovene People's Party was a Slovenian political party in the 19th and 20th centuries, active in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Between 1907 and 1941, it was the largest and arguably the most influential political party in the Slovene Lands...
to recognize 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"...
, and join forces with the Yugoslav partisans.
In February 1945, he went to the liberated 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...
, and was named ambassador to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. In 1947, he returned to 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...
, where he worked as a consultant for the National Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. He was critical to the Communist regime, but did not engage in any political action. In 1953, he became member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The 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....
. He died in Ljubljana in 1958, aged 72, and was buried in the Žale
Žale
Žale Central cemetery , often abbreviated to Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana. It is located in the Bežigrad district and operated by the Žale Public Company.- History :...
cemetery.
Writing
In his early years, Cankar wrote several renowned essays, mostly related to esthetic issues. In 1911, he published the book Obiski (Encounters), a collection of interviews with contemporary Slovene authors and artists (Ivan CankarIvan 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...
, 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...
, Fran Saleški Finžgar
Fran Saleški Finžgar
Fran Saleški Finžgar was a Slovene writer, playwright, translator and Roman Catholic priest.Fran Saleški Finžgar was born into a poor peasant family in the Upper Carniolan village of Doslovče , in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
, Ivan Tavčar
Ivan Tavcar
Ivan Tavčar was a Slovene and Yugoslav writer, lawyer, and politician.- Biography :Tavčar was born into a poor peasant family of Janez and Neža née Perko in the Carniolan village of Poljane near Škofja Loka in what was then the Austrian Empire and is now in Slovenia. It has never been entirely...
, Oton Župančič
Oton Župancic
Oton Župančič was a Slovene poet, translator and playwright.Župančič is regarded, alongside Ivan Cankar, Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn, as the beginner of modernism in Slovenian literature...
, Franc Ksaver Meško, and others). In 1913, he wrote his only major literary work, the essayistic novel, S poti (On the Way), written as a travelogue through 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...
.
In 1926, Cankar published a major treatise in art history, Uvod v umevanje likovne umetnosti (An Introduction to the Understanding of Figurative Art), where he developed a systematic stylistic typology based on the theories of Heinrich Wölfflin
Heinrich Wölfflin
Heinrich Wölfflin was a famous Swiss art critic, whose objective classifying principles were influential in the development of formal analysis in the history of art during the 20th century. He taught at Basel, Berlin and Munich in the generation that raised German art history to pre-eminence...
. In the same year, he started publishing his magnum opus
Masterpiece
Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....
, Zgodovina likovne umetnosti v zahodni Evropi (History of Figurative Art in Western Europe), in which he applied his own esthetic theory in the overview of western art between late antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
and the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
. Between 1926 and 1936, he published the first critical edition of collected works of 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...
, his cousin. In 1948, he also published Ivan Cankar's correspondence.
Izidor Cankar was also a translator: among other, he translated works of Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
, André Maurois
André Maurois
André Maurois, born Emile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog was a French author.-Life:Maurois was born in Elbeuf and educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen, both in Normandy. Maurois was the son of Ernest Herzog, a Jewish textile manufacturer, and Alice Herzog...
and Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
.
Further reading
- Izidor Cankar: A Diplomat of Two Yugoslavias (Mengeš - Ljubljana: Center for European Perspective - Scientific Research Council of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2009).