Zorko Jelinčič, (5 March 1900 - 13 July 1965) 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 ...

n national activist and cultural worker.

Life and work

He was born into a teacher's family in

Log pod Mangartom Log pod Mangartom (; sometimes ''Log pod Mangrtom''; it, Bretto; german: Breth), is a settlement in the Municipality of Bovec in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It comprises Gornji Log and Spodnji Log as well as the hamlets Loška Koritnica, Mo ...

. He attended and finished primary school in his hometown, despite the fact that his father was transferred to other places on business. He graduated in 1918 from the

Idrija Idrija (, in older sources ''Zgornja Idrija''; german: (Ober)idria, it, Idria) is a town in western Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Idrija. It is located in the traditional region of Inner Carniola and is in the Gorizia Statisti ...

high school. He then enrolled at the Faculty of Filosophy 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 are ...

. In the school year 1923/1924, he and his friend Klement Jug transferred to the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

, but Jelinčič did not finish his studies. In 1924 he joined the Association of Educational Societies in Gorica and soon became its secretary. At the same time he became the secretary of the student society Adrija in Gorica, which was founded on August 9, 1902, as an academic holiday society. As the secretary of the Association of Educational Societies, he traveled extensively in the Goriška region and organized liberal cultural clubs. He was among the founders and leaders of the illegal revolutionary organization

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 ...

. In 1929 he married Fanica Obida. The following year he was arrested when the illegal organization TIGR - Trst, Istra, Gorica, Rijeka was uncovered by fascist authorities; In 1931, he was as the top defendant among 30 accused, sentenced to 20 years in prison by a special court in Rome, the continuation of the 1st

trial in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

. He was released after 9 years. After coming home, his wife died in the birth of his second daughter. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, he was confined to the province of Isernio until the

capitulation of Italy The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Briga ...

. After the dissolution of Italy in the autumn of 1943 he joined the partisans; there he was a member of the Provincial National Liberation Committee for Slovenian Littoral. After the liberation, he settled in Trieste, where he worked mainly in the cultural section of the Provincial National Liberation Committee and later in the Educational Association. In 1948 he married for the second time Danica Žun. From 1958 on he worked in Institute for Ethnic Issues in Ljubljana and was one of the initiators for the creation of an ethnographic map of the Trieste territory based on original, ancient fallow names.''Enciklopedija Slovenije''. Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1987-2002 He has been involved in journalism since 1924, publishing articles in various newspapers. He commemorative book on Klement Jug, he wrote two treatises: ''Dr. Klement Jug (1898-1924)'' and ''Jug and mountains''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelinčič, Zorko 1900 births 1965 deaths Slovenian anti-fascists Slovenian people