Janez Kocijančič (October 20, 1941 – June 1, 2020) was a Slovene politician and lawyer. He was also the president of the

Slovenian Olympic Committee The Olympic Committee of Slovenia (; OKS) ensures the participation of Slovenian athletes at the Olympic Games, the Mediterranean Games, and the European Youth Olympic Festival. The Committee gathers 39 national sports federations governing vario ...

from 1991 to 2014.

Education and early career

Janez Kocijančič received his bachelor's degree in 1965, his master's degree in 1974, and his doctorate in 2010 at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

's Faculty of Law. His dissertation was titled ''Pravna doktrina in praksa na področju športa v Evropski uniji'' (Legal Doctrine and Practice in Sports in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

). He served as the chair of the University Committee of the University of Ljubljana Student Union (1961–1963), president of the Central Committee of the League of Youth of Slovenia (1966–1968) and president of the League of Youth of Yugoslavia (1968–1971). He was a minister in the government of

Stane Kavčič Stane Kavčič (30 October 1919 – 27 March 1987) was a Slovenian communist politician within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He joined the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1941 and participated ...

. As a close ally of Kavčič, he was removed from the political scene after the fall of the Kavčič government in 1973. After that, he worked in business, first managing the company Interexport, and then from 1982 to 1993 as the director of

Adria Airways Adria Airways d.o.o. (formerly ''Inex-Adria Aviopromet'' and later ''Inex-Adria Airways'') was the flag carrier of Slovenia, operating scheduled and charter services to European destinations. The company's head office was at Ljubljana Jože Puč ...

Return to politics

Kocijančič returned to politics in the 1980s, which were marked by the more liberal policies of the League of Communists. He worked closely with

Milan Kučan Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovenian former politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 1991 to 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of Slovenia#Socialist Republic of Slovenia, Pres ...

. Kocijančič took up the cause of the rights of the Albanian population in Kosovo. In 1993, the former

League of Communists of Slovenia The League of Communists of Slovenia (, ZKS; ) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1990. It was established in April 1937 as the Communist Party of Slovenia and was ...

(''Zveza komunistov Slovenije'')—initially renamed the Party of Democratic Renewal (''Stranka demokratične prenove'', SDP) and then Social Democratic Renewal, ''Socialdemokratska prenova'', SDP)—joined the Workers' Party of Slovenia (''Delavska stranka Slovenije''), the Social Democratic Union (''Socialdemokratska unija'', SDU), and two groups from the Socialist Party and the

Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia The Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia (, also known by the acronym DeSUS) was a political party in Slovenia last led by Vlado Dimovski. The party claims broadly liberal values with a strong focus on the interests of the retired and the ...

to create the United List of Social Democrats (''Združena lista socialnih demokratov'', ZLSD), and Kocijančič was elected the party's leader. He did not run for head of the party after his term expired in 1997 because the party had not performed well in the elections, being succeeded by

Borut Pahor Borut Pahor (; born 2 November 1963) is a Slovenian politician who served as President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2008 to 2012. A longtime member and former president of the Social D ...

. In 1993 Kocijančič became a member of the first

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

when he replaced Rado Bohinc, who had been appointed to a ministerial position. During that term he was a member of the following working bodies until February 7, 1996 and after May 28, 1996: the Committee on Finance and Monetary Policy, the Committee on International Relations, and the Committee on Internal Policy and Justice. In 2004 he was a co-founder of the political association Forum 21.

Sports

From 1974 to 1984, Kocijančič was the president of the Ski Association of Slovenia, and from 1984 to 1988 of the Ski Association of Yugoslavia. During this time of the greatest success of Slovene skiers in the world, he worked closely with Tone Vogrinc. Kocijančič became a member of the council of the International Ski Organization (FIS) from 1981 onward, and he became its vice-president in 2010. From 1991 to 2014, Kocijančič served six terms as the president of the

, and after 2005 he was also a member of the Executive Board of the

European Olympic Committees The European Olympic Committees (EOC; ) is an organisation based in Rome, Italy, consisting of 50 National Olympic Committees from the continent of Europe.EOC members include transcontinental countries Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Russian ...

(EOC). From 2013 to 2016, he was vice-president of the European Olympic Committees, and in 2017 he was unanimously elected its president.

Family

Kocijančič was the son of Boris Kocijančič (1909–1968)—an

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

politician,

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

, and minister in the postwar communist government—and Krista Kocijančič (née Pestotnik, 1916–2011), a pediatrician. He was married to the physician Andreja Kocijančič (1942–2021), and he was the father of the philosopher

Gorazd Kocijančič Gorazd Kocijančič (born 17 September 1964) is a freelance Slovene philosopher, poet and translator. Kocijančič is well known for his translation of the entire corpus of Plato's work into Slovene. Selected publications Kocijančič has p ...

and the university professor Nike Kocijančič Pokorn.

Awards

– Bloudek award (1985), the highest award in Slovenia for achievements in sports
– Kraigher award (1990), the highest award in Slovenia for achievements in business (1990)
– King Olav Trophy (King Olav Trophy) (2014)
– Honorary citizen of Ljubljana (2018)
– Silver Olympic Order (2020, posthumously)
– Honorary president of the Ski Association of Slovenia (2020, posthumously)
– European Olympic Committees Order of Merit (2020, posthumously)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocijancic, Janez 1941 births 2020 deaths Slovenian sports executives and administrators Social Democrats (Slovenia) politicians Politicians from Ljubljana University of Ljubljana alumni Businesspeople from Ljubljana