Jožko Šavli (March 22, 1943March 11, 2011) was a Slovene author, self-declared

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 stu ...

and high school teacher in economic sciences from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Šavli was born in

Tolmin Tolmin (; it, Tolmino,trilingual name ''Tolmein, Tolmino, Tolmin'' inGemeindelexikon, der im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche und Länder. Bearbeit auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Herausgegeben von der K.K. ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

(now in

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 ...

). He obtained a degree in Business Management 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 ...

in 1967. Then he continued his studies at the Vienna School of International Trade ("Hochschule für Welthandel"), where in 1975 he obtained a doctorate in social and economic sciences with a thesis on the economic structure and regional economic development in the district of

Horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

.Catalogue of the Austrian National Library:
Josef Savli, ''Wirtschaftsstruktur und regionale Wirtschaftsentwicklung im politischen Bezirk Horn (NÖ)'', unpublished dissertation, Hochschule für Welthandel, Vienna 1975 From 1978 he taught business subjects at the

Slovene language Slovene ( or ), or alternatively Slovenian (; or ), is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic language, a sub-branch that is part of the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family ...

Technical School of Commerce in

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

. Šavli became known in Slovenia in the mid-1980s, when he advanced the

Venetic theory The Venetic theory ( sl, venetska teorija) is a pseudohistorical interpretation of the origin of the Slovenes that denies the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps in the 6th century, claiming that proto-Slovenes (also regarded as the Veneti peopl ...

, together with the poet

Matej Bor Matej Bor was the pen name of Vladimir Pavšič (14 April 1913 – 29 September 1993), who was a Slovene poet, translator, playwright, journalist, and Partisan. Biography Matej Bor was born as Vladimir Pavšič in the village of Grgar near Gori ...

. According to the theory, the Slovenes were not descended from the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

that settled the region in the 6th century, but that they were descended from a proto- Slavic speaking people known as the Veneti. The theory was rejected in academic circles, but nevertheless gained widespread popularity in Slovenia, as well as some interest abroad. Already in the early 1980s, Šavli began to publish articles and essays that concerned in particular traditions of the Medieval state of

Carantania Carantania, also known as Carentania ( sl, Karantanija, german: Karantanien, in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern ...

. In his books, Šavli emphasized the political and cultural continuity between the proto-Slovene state of Carantania and the later

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial Sta ...

. Šavli claims to have discovered the

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

as the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

or symbol of

. This discovery is disputed by academic historians. Šavli lived and worked in Gorizia, where he died in March 2011.

Essential bibliography

In Slovene

*''Veneti: naši davni predniki'' ("Veneti: Our Ancient Forefathers", 1985), together with

and

Ivan Tomažič Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

; *''Slovenska država Karantanija'' ("The Slovene State of Carantania", 1990); *''Slovenska znamenja'' ("Slovene Symbols", 1994); *''Slovenija: podoba evropskega naroda'' ("Slovenia: the Image of a European Nation", 1995); *''Etruščani in Veneti'' ("

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

and Veneti", 1995), together with Ivan Tomažič; *''Slovenski svetniki'' ("Slovene Saints", 1999).

In English

*''Veneti : First Builders of European Community'' (1996); *''Slovenia : Discovering a European Nation'' (2003).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savli, Jozko 1943 births 2011 deaths People from Tolmin 20th-century Slovenian historians University of Vienna alumni University of Ljubljana alumni