Božidar Debenjak (born 7 May 1935) is a

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n Marxist philosopher,

social theorist Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories relat ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

Biography

He was born in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

. In 1961, he became professor at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

. For more than thirty years, he taught Marxist theory and history of philosophy at the Ljubljana University; many renowned Slovenian philosophers and sociologists were among his pupils, including Slavoj Žižek, Mladen Dolar, Rastko Močnik, Renata Salecl and Tonči Kuzmanić. He was one of the first scholars to introduce the thought of the

Frankfurt school The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

in the curricula of Yugoslav universities. He has written several books, mostly on Marxist theory, including a monograph on the thought of

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' historical materialist Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...

than Marx", who "managed to establish a clearer dividing line between history and nature". His ''Introduction to Marxist Philosophy'' (1977) was published in 4 editions, and was one of the most influential synthesis of Marxist thought in Slovenia. He also translated several works, mostly from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, including several works by

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

(especially

young Marx The correct place of Karl Marx's early writings within his system as a whole has been a matter of great controversy. Some believe there is a ''break'' in Marx's development that divides his thought into two periods: the "Young Marx" is said to be ...

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Rosa Luxemburg,

Theodor Adorno Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blue ...

Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer (; ; 14 February 1895 – 7 July 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist who was famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the Frankfurt School of social research. Horkheimer addressed authoritarianism, militari ...

, Herbert Marcuse, Karl Korsch,

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

, Jürgen Habermas and

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

. He also translated Hegel's '' Phenomenology of the Mind'' and Valvasor's ''

The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola ''The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola'' (german: Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain, sl, Slava vojvodine Kranjske) is an encyclopedia published in Nuremberg in 1689 by the polymath Johann Weikhard von Valvasor. It is the most important work on his ...

'' (together with his wife and son), and co-authored one of the most comprehensive Slovene-German dictionaries. He was married to Doris Debenjak (née Kirsch), a Slovenian translator of Gottschee German descent and chair of the Society of Native Gottschee Settlers.

Major works

*''Pota razvoja'' ("Paths of Development". Ljubljana, 1961). *''Friedrich Engels - zgodovina in odtujitev'' ("Friedrich Engels: History and Alienation". Maribor, 1970). *''V alternativi : marksistične študije'' ("In Alternative: Marxist Studies". Ljubljana, 1974). *''Meščanski kozmos in revolucionarna teorija: aspekti "kritične teorije družbe"'' ("The Bourgeois Universe and the Revolutionary Theory: Aspects of the 'Critical Theory of Society'. Ljubljana, 1977). *''Vstop v marksistično filozofijo'' ("Introduction to Marxist Philosophy". Ljubljana, 1977).

References

External links

Interview in the journal Mladina (2008)

Interview with Božidar Debenjak on the Slovenian Television (2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debenjak, Bozidar 1935 births Living people Slovenian historians of philosophy Slovenian translators German–Slovene translators University of Ljubljana alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Marxist theorists Slovenian atheists Slovenian Marxists 20th-century Slovenian philosophers 20th-century Slovenian writers 20th-century translators 21st-century Slovenian philosophers

Biography

Major works

See also

References

External links