Branislava Sušnik
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Branislava Sušnik (28 March 1920, in
Medvode Medvode (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 110.) is a town in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Medvode. The Sava and ...
, Slovenia – 28 April 1996, in
Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...
, Paraguay) was a Slovenian-Paraguayan anthropologist.


Life and education

Branislava Sušnik was born on 28 March 1920 in Medvode, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, currently in Slovenia to the lawyer Jože Sušnik and Karolina née Prijatelj. She attended primary school and classical grammar school in Ljubljana, and in 1937 entered Ljubljana University where she studied
prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins   million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
and history at the Faculty of Arts. In 1942, Sušnik completed her doctoral studies in
ethnohistory Ethnohistory is the study of cultures and indigenous peoples customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may ...
and Ural-Altaic linguistics with the German anthropologist prof. Wilhelm Schmidt in Vienna (which was then part of Germany) and began studying the cultures and languages of Asia Minor at the
Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...
in Rome. In addition to history and anthropology, she studied ethnology, prehistory, ancient languages and scripts. After completing her studies in Rome, Sušnik returned to Ljubljana. Her father Jože Sušnik was murdered at the beginning of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and when she tried to escape to Italy, she was caught and imprisoned in the
Ajdovščina Ajdovščina (; ,trilingual name "Haidenschaft, Aidussina, Ajdovščina" inGemeindelexikon, der im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche und Länder. Bearbeit auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Herausgegeben von der K. ...
prison. At the end of 1945, Sušnik left the country and spent some time in a refugee camp in Lienz in Austrian
Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
, which she was able to leave after the intervention of the Jesuits and go to Rome.


Work

In 1947, Sušnik emigrated to Argentina, having learnt Spanish during a month-long boat trip. In Argentina she began field research work at Laishi Mission in Los Tobas de Formosa, writing her first linguistic work in America. On 1 March 1951, Sušnik at the invitation of the founder of the Ethnographic Museum,
Andrés Barbero Andrés Barbero (1877 in Asunción – 1951 in Buenos Aires) was a Paraguayan scientist and botanist. Childhood and studies Juan Barbero and Carolina Crosa, immigrants from Piedmont, reached Paraguay when the Paraguayan War had just finished. Th ...
, she went to Asunción, Paraguay. After his death in 1952, she took over the management of the museum and ran it until her death in 1996. Sušnik reorganized the museum and enlarged its collection, while also running the richest library on indigenous peoples in Latin America. For 20 years, Sušnik headed the Department of American Archeology and Ethnology at the Faculty of Arts of the
University of Asunción A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
. During her scientific career Sušnik wrote 77 works, including articles, essays and books. Her best-known texts are "The Aborigines in Paraguay", "The role of indigenous people in the formation and experience of Paraguay", "The colonial Indian of Paraguay", "Notes on Paraguayan Ethnography", etc. In 1992, Sušnik received the highest Paraguayan awards for scientific achievements. Also she was posthumously awarded the title of Gran Official of Paraguay for her creative contributions to the formation of the Paraguayan identity. Branislava Sušnik died on 28 April 1996 in Asunción, Paraguay. In 2005, the Paraguayan Post issued a stamp with Sušnik's portrait. In 2009, a street in Asunción was named after her. In 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia honored Sušnik by organizing special events at certain diplomatic missions and consular post on the occasion of her birth centenary.


Selected works

* 1965 - El indio colonial del Paraguay * 1968 – Chiriguanos * 1969 - Chamacocos * 1975 - Dispersión Tupí-Guarani prehistórica: ensayo analitico * 1977 - Lengua-maskoy, su hablar, su pensar, su vivencia * 1978 - Los aborígenes del Paraguay * 1986 - Artesanía indigena: ensayo analítico * 1990 - Una visión socio-antropológica del Paraguay del siglo XVIII * 1990 - Guerra, transito, subsistencia: ámbito americano * 1995 - Los indios del Paraguay


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Susnik, Branislava Slovenian women anthropologists Paraguayan women anthropologists Slovenian anthropologists Paraguayan anthropologists 20th-century anthropologists 1920 births 1996 deaths Argentine emigrants to Paraguay Women in Slovenia Yugoslav emigrants to Argentina Yugoslav expatriates in Germany Yugoslav expatriates in Italy