Dragotin Lončar (November 5, 1876 – July 29, 1954) was 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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, editor, and Social Democratic

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He was born in Selo near Lukovica pri Domžalah in

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

and baptized Carl Lonzhar. After graduating from the

State Gymnasium State Gymnasium is an arena on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. It was opened in 1913, and once was the school's primary indoor athletic facility, before the opening of Hilton Coliseum. It is located at the corner of Union Dr ...

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 ...

, he studied history at the Charles University in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, graduating in 1904. In Prague, he joined the circle of young Slovene left-wing intellectuals that became influenced by the political and social thought of

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdyc ...

, which included figures such as Anton Dermota and

Josip Ferfolja Josip Ferfolja (27 September 1880 – 11 December 1958) was a Slovene lawyer and Social democratic politician, and human rights activist from the Province of Gorizia. Although he was an Italian citizen for most of his life, he considered himself f ...

. After returning to the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( sl, Slovenske dežele or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provin ...

, he taught history at Ljubljana's First Gymnasium, briefly serving as its director. He later served as the director of the

National Museum of Slovenia The National Museum of Slovenia ( sl, Narodni muzej Slovenije) is located in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is located in the Center district of the city near Tivoli City Park. Along with the Slovenian Museum of Natural History, locate ...

, and, from 1920, as head of the

Slovene Society The Slovene Society ( sl, Slovenska matica,The name Matica can be literally translated into English as the "Queen Bee," which is a metaphor meaning "the parent body of the Slovenes." also ) is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, found ...

publishing house (''Slovenska matica''). Before World War One, he joined the

Yugoslav Social Democratic Party Yugoslav Social-Democratic Party ( sl, Jugoslovanska socialdemokratska stranka, hr, Jugoslavenska socijaldemokratska stranka) or JSDS was a socialist political party in Slovenia and Istria during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom ...

, where he belonged to its right wing led by

Albin Prepeluh Albin Prepeluh (22 February 1881 – 20 November 1937) was a Slovenian left wing politician, journalist, editor, political theorist and translator. Before World War I, he was the foremost Slovene Marxist revisionist theoretician. After the War, h ...

. He left the party after it merged with the so-called

Centrists Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

in 1921, who supported Yugoslav centralism. In 1924, Lončar was among the co-founders of the Slovenian Labour Agrarian Republican Party, which in 1927 merged with the Independent Agrarian Party into the Slovenian Peasant Party, a Slovenian counterpart to the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party ( hr, Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) is an agrarian political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The Brothers Radić believed that t ...

, with which it maintained strong ties. After the establishment of the royal dictatorship of King

Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I ( sr-Cyrl, Александар I Карађорђевић, Aleksandar I Karađorđević, ) ( – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier, was the prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later the King of Yu ...

, Lončar withdrew from politics, dedicating himself to his scholarly and editorial work. He died in Ljubljana and was buried in the

Žale Žale Central Cemetery ( sl, Centralno pokopališče Žale), often simply Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad District and operated by the Žale Public Company. History The ce ...

cemetery.

Major works

*''Politično življenje Slovencev'' (Political Life of Slovenes, 1906) *''Dr. Janez Bleiweis in njegova doba'' (Dr.

Janez Bleiweis Janez Bleiweis (19 November 1808 – 29 November 1881) was a Slovene conservative politician, journalist, physician, veterinarian, and public figure. He was the leader of the so-called Old Slovene political movement. Already during his lifetime, ...

and His Epoch, 1910) *''Slovenci: načrt slovenske socialne zgodovine'' (Slovenes: A Sketch of Slovene Social History, 1911) *''Janko Kersnik, njega delo in doba'' ( Janko Kersnik: His Work and Epoch, 1914) *''Politika in zgodovina : nekoliko odgovorov na dnevna vprašanja'' (Politics and History: Some Answers to Current Questions, 1923) *''Kako je nastalo današnje delavstvo in njegovo gibanje'' (The Genesis of the Modern Working Class and Its Political Movement, 1930) *''Dragotin Dežman in slovenstvo'' (

Dragotin Dežman Dragotin is a village in Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , ...

and the Slovene Identity, 1930) *''The Slovenes: A Social History from the Earliest Times to 1910'' (1940)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loncar, Dragotin 20th-century Slovenian historians Writers from Ljubljana Slovenian socialists Charles University alumni People from the Municipality of Lukovica Politicians from Ljubljana 1954 deaths Yugoslav Social-Democratic Party politicians Slovene Peasant Party politicians 1876 births Burials at Žale Austro-Hungarian educators