Josip Ribičič (3 November 1886 – 7 June 1969) was a Slovene writer, known as an author of popular

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

Life

He was born as Josip Ribičić in Baška on the island of

Krk Krk (; it, Veglia; ruo, Krk; dlm, label= Vegliot Dalmatian, Vikla; la, Curicta; grc-gre, Κύρικον, Kyrikon) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kot ...

(now in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, then 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 ...

). His father Juraj was a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

from

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...

who worked on Krk as an Austro-Hungarian public servant, while his mother Marija Križanič was a Slovene from Gorenja Vas near

Kanal ob Soči Kanal ( or ; it, Canale, german: Kanalburg), frequently referred to as Kanal ob Soči ("Kanal on the Soča"; or ; it, Canale d'Isonzo), is a settlement mostly on the left bank of the Soča River in the Slovene Littoral, the traditional regi ...

in what was then the

County of Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (german: Gefürstete Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca; it, Principesca Contea di Gorizia e Gradisca; sl, Poknežena grofija Goriška in Gradiščanska), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled " ...

(now in

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, and ...

). Josip attended elementary school in

Lig Lig (; it, Liga) is a dispersed settlement in the hills northwest of Kanal in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It lies on the border with Italy and is made up of the smaller settlements of Lig, Kostanjevica, and Strmec, as well as a few remote f ...

, and then enrolled in a teacher's college in

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

. Between 1909 and 1911, he worked as teacher in several elementary schools in the

Austrian Littoral The Austrian Littoral (german: Österreichisches Küstenland, it, Litorale Austriaco, hr, Austrijsko primorje, sl, Avstrijsko primorje, hu, Osztrák Tengermellék) was a crown land (''Kronland'') of the Austrian Empire, established in 1849. I ...

, before settling in Trieste in 1911, where he worked as a teacher in a private Slovene-language school in the district of San Giacomo ( sl, Sveti Jakob). He married a local Slovene woman in 1913. In 1925, he moved to the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama ...

in order to escape Fascist Italian persecution. He first worked as a teacher in Rakek, and from 1929 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 a ...

. In 1942, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he was arrested by the Italian authorities in the annexed

Province of Ljubljana The Province of Ljubljana ( it, Provincia di Lubiana, sl, Ljubljanska pokrajina, german: Provinz Laibach) was the central-southern area of Slovenia. In 1941, it was annexed by Fascist Italy, and after 1943 occupied by Nazi Germany. Created on May 3 ...

, accused of collaboration with the

Liberation Front of the Slovenian People The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation ( sl, Osvobodilna fronta slovenskega naroda), or simply Liberation Front (''Osvobodilna fronta'', OF), originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front (''Protiimperialistična fronta'', PIF), was a Slovene ...

and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was released in 1944 by the

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

authorities. After the end of the war, he continued shortly his teaching profession; in 1949, he was employed in the Slovenian Ministry of Education. He died in Ljubljana. He was the father of the communist official and Yugoslav statesman Mitja Ribičič, and the grandfather of the Slovenian jurist and politician

Ciril Ribičič Ciril Ribičič (born 30 June 1947) is a Slovenian jurist, politician and author. Since 2000, he has served as member of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia. He was born in Ljubljana, then part of the People's Republic of Slovenia in former Yugo ...

Work

Most of Ribičič's work, written in the '' fin-de-siècle'' estheticism, is children literature. His book ''Nicholas's Night'' (Slovene: ), illustrated by

Milko Bambič Milko Bambič (26 April 1905 – 20 May 1991) also known by the nicknames Cvetanov and Banetov, was a prolific illustrator, cartoonist, caricaturist, inventor, children's writer, publicist, and painter from the Slovene minority in Italy (1 ...

, is the first Slovene-language youth book printed in colour

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

. An example of adult literature is the book ''Ruins'' (Slovene: ), published in 1917, which is a collection of short stories and humoresques dealing with

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1976, the publishing house Mladinska knjiga published his collected works in 7 volumes.

References

Entrance 'Josip Ribičič' in the Slovenian Littoral Biographical Lexicon (Primorski slovenski biografski leksikon)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribicic, Josip Educators from Austria-Hungary Slovenian writers Writers from Trieste Slovenian people of Croatian descent 1886 births 1969 deaths Levstik Award laureates Slovenian children's writers