Anton Melik (January 1, 1890 – June 8, 1966) was a Slovene

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Biography

Melik was born in the village of Črna Vas in Carniola, part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. Before and during

World War I 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 ...

, he studied at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

, graduating in 1916 in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

. Later he was employed as a secondary school teacher. In 1926–1927 he became an associate professor at the

Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

of 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 1932 a senior lecturer, and then in 1938 a professor. In 1927 he received his PhD from the Faculty of Arts with his dissertation on the settlement of the

Ljubljana Marsh The Ljubljana Marsh ( sl, Ljubljansko barje), located south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, is the largest marsh in the country. It covers or 0.8% of the Slovene territory. It is administered by the municipalities of Borovnica, Brezovica ...

. Between 1938 and 1966, he was a professor of geomorphology at the Department of Geography at the

, succeeding professor Artur Gavazzi in 1938. With his work in this field he established his well-known geomorphological school. In 1935–1936, the publishing house ''

Slovenska matica The Slovene Society ( sl, Slovenska matica,The name Matica can be literally translated into English as the "Queen Bee," which is a metaphor meaning "the parent body of the Slovenes." also ) is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, found ...

'' published his monumental work ''Geografija Slovenije'' (The Geography of Slovenia) in two volumes with a general regional part, later extended with four additional books between 1954 and 1960, with a detailed regional description of particular areas of

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 ...

: the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

, Styria with

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; dialectically: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; hu, Muravidék) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarian minority, lying between the Mur R ...

and the Mežica Valley, the Sava Valley, and the Slovenian Littoral. Between 1947 and 1960, Melik was head of the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Arts. Between 1948 and 1966, he was head of the Geographical Institute of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members ...

. Between 1946/1947 and 1949/1950, he was chancellor of the University of Ljubljana, and he served twice as dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1940/1941 and 1945/1946. He retired in 1966. He died in Ljubljana. In 1976, the Geographical Institute of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, founded in 1946, was renamed the

Anton Melik Geographical Institute The Anton Melik Geographical Institute ( sl, Geografski inštitut Antona Melika) was founded in 1946 by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1976 it was named after the Slovene geographer and academy member Anton Melik (1890–1966), wh ...

in his honor.

Family

His two brothers Franc Melik (born 1885), and Ivan Melik (born 1894) were killed in a grove known as Kosler's Thicket ( sl, Kozlerjeva gošča, named after its former owner

Peter Kosler Peter Kosler or Kozler (16 February 1824 – 16 April 1879) was a Carniolan lawyer, geographer, cartographer, activist, and businessman. He was of ethnic German origin, but also identified with Slovene culture and advocated the peaceful coexi ...

), on November 25, 1943 together with 12 other victims by a unit of the collaborationist

Slovenian Home Guard The Slovene Home Guard ( sl, Slovensko domobranstvo, SD; german: Slowenische Landeswehr) was a Slovene anti- Partisan military organization that was active during the 1943–1945 German occupation of the formerly Italian-occupied Province of Ljub ...

militia under the command of

Franc Frakelj Franc Frakelj (a.k.a. Peter Skalar) (19 January 1917–?)Vidic, Joze. 1982. ''Po sledovih črne roke: dokumentarno-reportažni zapis''. Ljubljana: Borec. was a member of the collaborationist Slovene Home Guard (after the Italian fascist capitulati ...

. For his work on the geography of Slovenia and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, Melik received the

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award ( sl, Prešernova nagrada), also called the Grand Prešeren Award ( sl, Velika Prešernova nagrada), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each yea ...

in 1947, 1949, and 1951. His son, Vasilij Melik, was a

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 st ...

; his two other sons, Anton (1918) and Andrej (1927–1930), died as children.

Sources

Who was Anton Melik
*

Ivan Gams 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 ...

William Morris Davis William Morris Davis (February 12, 1850 – February 5, 1934) was an American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the "father of American geography". He was born into a prominent Quaker family in Philadelphia, ...

Anton Melik, slemenski nivoji in pobočni procesi v Sloveniji / William Morris Davis, Anton Melik, Level Top Ridges and Slope Processes in Slovenia, ''Geografski zbornik'' 41 (2001).

References

External links

* * ttp://giam.zrc-sazu.si Anton Melik Geographical Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Melik, Anton 1890 births 1966 deaths People from the City Municipality of Ljubljana Slovenian geographers Regional geographers Prešeren Award laureates University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana 20th-century geographers