Majda Vrhovnik (

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

LojzkaLeben, Andrej. 2003. ''V borbi smo bile enakopravne: uporniške ženske na Koroškem v letih 1939–1955'' Klagenfurt: Drava, p. 55.) (14 April 1922 – 4 May 1945) was a Slovene communist and medical student. She was a member of the District Committee of the

Communist Party of Slovenia The League of Communists of Slovenia ( sl, Zveza komunistov Slovenije, ZKS; sh, Savez komunista Slovenije) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989. It was establis ...

for

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

and was named a people's hero of Yugoslavia after her death.

Life

Majda Vrhovnik was born 14 April 1922 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 ar ...

.Jeršek, Dare, Milica Kacin, & Alenka Nedog. 1963. ''Oris mladinskega gibanja na slovenskem vobdobju 1941-1945''. Ljubljana: Centralni komite Zveza mladine slovenije, p. 163.Jakopič, Albert, & Franc Benedik. 1978. ''Vodnik po partizanskih poteh''. Ljubljana: Borec, p. 20. Her older brother Vladimir Vrhovnik (17 August 1916 – 28 April 1945, a.k.a. Volodja or Mirko, also a member of the Communist Party) was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, but the family moved to Ljubljana after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After graduating from an upper secondary school she enrolled in the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Medicine. During her studies she was a member of the Slovene Club and the student revolutionary movement. She was accepted for membership 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 ...

in 1940. Vrhovnik joined the underground movement immediately after the occupation of Yugoslavia. She became a courier for the organizational secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia, Tone Tomšič (1910–1942). When the occupying forces became aware of her activity they sentenced her to life in prison in absentia, holding her parents as hostages for several months. Vrhovnik nonetheless remained in Ljubljana. She participated in organizing an underground printshop for the resistance in Ljubljana. As a courier, she carried manuscripts for the underground printshops in Ljubljana codenamed ''Podmornica'' 'submarine' at Brdo Street () no. 95 and ''Tunel'' 'tunnel' at Emona Street () no. 2. With the assistance of her brother, she managed to set up a bunker where, starting on 4 May 1943, she reproduced copies of ''Ljudska pravica'' (The People’s Justice), ''Slovenski poročevalec'' (Slovenian Reporter), ''Radio vestnik'' (Messenger Radio), and various other brochures for nine months. At her own choosing, on 22 January 1944 she was sent to the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Ad ...

. There she served as an instructor for the Young Communist League of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) for Idrija and an instructor for SKOJ training courses for the SKOJ Regional Committee for the Littoral. However, she did not remain there long, but volunteered to work in

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

. In 1944 she was named secretary of the District Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia for Mežica; she crossed the

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

River and went through the Sattnitz Mountains, first working in the Völkermarkt area and then in Klagenfurt. In the fall of 1944 she became a member of the District Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia for Klagenfurt. Disguised as a peasant girl, she spent several months in Klagenfurt and took part in organizing committees for the

Liberation Front Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

, and illegal publications for the city. The

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

managed to discover her through betrayal, and on 28 February 1945 she was arrested in a house below hill in Klagenfurt. She was tortured in prison and shot on 4 May 1945. Her grave remains unmarked to this day. She was proclaimed a people's hero of Yugoslavia on 5 July 1951 or 20 December 1951.

Legacy

Majda Vrhovnik Primary School () at imonGregorčič Street () no. 16 in Ljubljana was named for Vrhovnik in 1958, created by merging Primary School no. 5 on Šubic Street () and Primary School no. 6 on Vrtača Street. A bust of Vrhovnik was created by the Slovene sculptor Stojan Batič in 1961 and stands in front of the school. "Majda Vrhovnik" was used as a pseudonym by

Franci Zavrl Franci may refer to: * the Franks, a West Germanic people first attested in the 3rd century * Franci Kek (born 1964), a Slovenian politician * Franci Litsingi, an alternative spelling for Francis Litsingi * Franci Petek (born 1971), a Slovenian geog ...

, the editor of '' Mladina'', after his arrest. The pseudonym "Majda Vrhovnik" was also used by the ''Mladina'' journalist Vlado Miheljak at the same time.Ramet, Sabrina Petra. 1997. "Democratization in Slovenia: The Second Stage." In: Karen Dawisha & Bruce Parrott (eds.) ''Politics, Power, and the Struggle for Democracy in South-East Europe'', pp. 189–225. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 220, note 23.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vrkovnik, Majda 1922 births 1945 deaths Slovenian people of World War II Executed spies Female wartime spies Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Slovenian communists Slovenian spies University of Ljubljana alumni Politicians from Ljubljana Communists executed by Nazi Germany Slovenian people executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm