Aleš Ušeničnik (3 July 1868 – 30 March 1952)
/ref> was a Slovene Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
, philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, sociologist and theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
. He was one of the main philosophers of neo-Thomism in Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
and in Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
.
Ušeničnik was born in the village of Poljane near the Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola ( ; ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Kamnik, Jesenice, Jesenice, Jesenice, Domžale and ...
n town of Škofja Loka
Škofja Loka (; ) is a town in Slovenia. It is the economic, cultural, educational, and administrative center of the Municipality of Škofja Loka in Upper Carniola. It has about 12,000 inhabitants.
Geography
Škofja Loka lies at an elevation of ...
, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
(now in Slovenia). He studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...
in Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. In 1897, he became a professor at the Theological Seminary in Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
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. In 1919, he became a professor at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...
, where he taught philosophy. In 1922 and 1923, he served as the fourth chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
of the University of Ljubljana. In 1937, he became a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and in 1938 one of the founding members of the Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana (later renamed the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy.
Cultural significance
Establis ...
). In 1948, he was expelled from the academy by the new communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
. His membership was reinstated in 1996 after the collapse of communism.
He died in Ljubljana in 1952.
References
1868 births
1952 deaths
People from the Municipality of Gorenja Vas-Poljane
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana
19th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests
Slovenian sociologists
Slovenian theologians
Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Yugoslav philosophers
20th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests
Thomists
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