Ljubo Sirc
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(19 April 1920 – 1 December 2016) was a British-
Slovene economist and prominent dissident from
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
.
Life and work
Sirc was born in
Kranj
Kranj (, german: Krainburg) is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is located approximately northwest of Ljubljana. The centre of the City Municipality of Kranj and of the traditional region of Upper Carniol ...
, then part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes
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 a wealthy and renowned family of Slovene and
Yugoslav patriots. His grandfather was a liberal and
monarchist
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
politician and mayor of Kranj, and his father was a local entrepreneur.
After the
Axis invasion of Yugoslavia
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
*Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...
, Sirc managed to escape to
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, where he established contact with other Yugoslav emigrants. In summer 1944, after the
Tito-Šubašić agreement, he joined the
Yugoslav Resistance
Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to:
* Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name:
** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...
and served in the Yugoslav Army in
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
, and
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 ...
until 1945. After the establishment of the
Communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...
, he joined other liberals and
social democrat
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
s, who tried to form a legal political opposition to the regime. In 1947, due to his political activity and friendship with Western diplomats, he was tried in the
Nagode Trial
The Nagode Trial ( sl, Nagodetov proces) was a political show trial in PR Slovenia, Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia in 1947.Vodušek Starič, Jerca. 1993. Nagodetov proces. ''Enciklopedija Slovenije'', vol. 7, p. 270. Ljubljana: Mladinska knj ...
and sentenced to death. His sentence was ultimately
commuted to twenty years in prison, of which he served seven, much of it in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
. He spent his time in assiduous reading; he became an expert in
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
political and economic thought, and he was also able to read the most up-to-date Western, especially English and American, economic literature, provided to him by the
Slovenian communists
Slovene or Slovenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe
* Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia
* Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia
* Sl ...
to translate it for "internal security purposes."
After his release, he escaped to Italy with the help of former
TIGR
TIGR, an abbreviation for ''Trst'', ''Istra'', ''Gorica'', and ''Reka'', full name Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March T.I.G.R. ( sl, Revolucionarna organizacija Julijske krajine T.I.G.R.), was a militant anti-fascist and insurgent or ...
member
Stanislav Kamenšček Stanislav and variants may refer to:
People
* Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.)
Places
* Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine
* Stanislaus County, C ...
. From there, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he started an academic career. In his various teaching posts since then, including twenty years at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
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, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, Sirc was a leading expert on
socialist economics
Socialist economics comprises the economic theories, practices and norms of hypothetical and existing socialist economic systems. A socialist economic system is characterized by social ownership and operation of the means of production that may t ...
and communist regimes. He was one of the founders of the
Centre for Research into Communist Economies
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentric ...
(CRCE) in London and headed it. For many years, he lectured on
political economy
Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...
at
Glasgow University
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
.
In 1962, Sirc was among the co-founders of the opposition platform Democratic Alternative, together with a group of
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
,
Croat
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...
, and
Bosniak
The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...
pro-Yugoslav emigrants.
Activity in post-communist Slovenia
After the fall of the communist regime in Slovenia, Sirc was active in Slovenian public life, writing articles, giving interviews, and commenting on political developments and economic issues. In 1990 and 1991, his opposition to the independence of Slovenia caused some controversy. Sirc supported a unified and democratic Yugoslavia and, although he admitted this solution was not feasible at the time, he refused to uphold the idea of an independent Slovenia until the outbreak of the
Ten-Day War
The Ten-Day War ( sl, desetdnevna vojna), or the Slovenian War of Independence (), was a brief armed conflict that followed Slovenia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991. It was fought between the separatists of the ...
. He then endorsed Slovenia's decision to break from the Yugoslav Federation.
In 1992, he ran for
President of Slovenia
The president of Slovenia, officially the president of the Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Predsednik Republike Slovenije), is the head of state of the Republic of Slovenia. The position was established on 23 December 1991 when the National Assembly (S ...
with the support of the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDS), but received less than 2% of the vote. He later claimed that he had been fooled into accepting the candidacy: he believed, according to his account, that the party had really accepted an
economically
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and politically liberal program, whereas in reality, he claimed, it remained strongly linked to the former communist establishment. In fact, as subsequent polls showed, the great majority of the Liberal Democratic Party's voters voted for
Milan Kučan
Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovene politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 23 December 1991 until 22 December 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of the Presidency of SR Slov ...
in the presidential elections.
Sirc later sharply criticised both
Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek (; 17 May 1950 – 23 February 2008) was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1989–1990), Prime Minister of Slovenia (1992–2002, with a short break in 2000) and President of Slovenia (200 ...
and Milan Kučan, accusing them of hindering the development of an
Open Society
Open society (french: société ouverte) is a term coined by French philosopher Henri Bergson in 1932, and describes a dynamic system inclined to moral universalism.Thomas Mautner (2005), 2nd ed. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy'' Open so ...
in Slovenia. In the late 1990s, he collaborated with the writer
Drago Jančar
Drago Jančar (born 13 April 1948) is a Slovenian writer, playwright and essayist. Jančar is one of the most well-known contemporary Slovene writers. In Slovenia, he is also famous for his political commentaries and civic engagement. Jančar's n ...
and historians
Vasko Simoniti
Vasko Simoniti (born 23 March 1951) is a Slovenian historian and politician. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as the Minister of Culture of Slovenia, being reappointed in 2020. He is an active member of the Slovenian Democratic Party.
Early ...
and
Alenka Puhar
Alenka Puhar (born 4 February 1945) is a Slovenian journalist, author, translator, and historian. In 1982, she wrote a groundbreaking psychohistory-inspired book ''"The Primal Text of Life"'' (in Slovene: ''Prvotno besedilo življenja'') about t ...
in staging an influential exhibition on
human rights violations
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
in
communist Slovenia called ''Temna stran meseca'' (The Dark Side of the Moon).
In 2004, he was among the co-founders of the
liberal conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by li ...
civic platform
Rally for the Republic
The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...
( sl, Zbor za republiko). In the 2000 and 2004 parliamentary elections, he publicly supported the
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party ( sl, Slovenska demokratska stranka, SDS), formerly the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia ( sl, Socialdemokratska stranka Slovenije, SDSS), is a conservative political party in Slovenia. It has been described as ...
. In May 2010, he became a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party.
[ ]
In his later years, Sirc lived in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
's West End and regularly visited his homeland.
Books
*''Between Hitler and Tito'' (autobiography, 1989)
*''Economic Devolution in Eastern Europe'' (1969)
*''The Yugoslav Economy Under Self-Management'' (1979)
*''What Must Gorbachev Do?'' (1989)
*''Political Morality in Yugoslavia'' (1996)
See also
*
Boris Furlan Boris Furlan (10 November 1894 – 10 June 1957)Brecelj, Marijan. 1978. "Borut Furlan." ''Primorski slovenski biografski leksikon'', vol. 5. Gorizia: Goriška Mohorjeva družba, p. 394.Jevnikar, Martin. 1989. "Boris Furlan." ''Enciklopedija Slovenij ...
*
Angela Vode
Angela Vode (; 5 January 1892 – 5 May 1985) was a Slovenian pedagogue, Feminism, feminist author and human rights activist. An early member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, she was expelled from the Party in 1939 because of criticism agains ...
*
Titoism
Titoism is a political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War. It is characterized by a broad Yugoslav identity, workers' self-management, a political separation from the Soviet Union, and leadership in the ...
*
Communist Party of Yugoslavia
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
*
Liberalism in Slovenia
This article gives an overview of liberalism in Slovenia. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For in ...
*
Mitja Ribičič
*
Pavle Gantar
Pavel Gantar, also known as Pavle Gantar (born 26 October 1949) is a Slovenian politician and sociologist. Between 2008 and 2011, he served as speaker of the Slovenian National Assembly. From February 2012 and to their dissolvation in 2015, he ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirc, Ljubo
1920 births
2016 deaths
People from Kranj
Politicians from Ljubljana
Ethnic Slovene people
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia politicians
Slovenian Democratic Party politicians
Yugoslav economists
20th-century British economists
British classical liberals
University of Ljubljana alumni
Academics of the University of Glasgow
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Yugoslav Partisans members
Yugoslav dissidents
Yugoslav emigrants to the United Kingdom