Jože Pirjevec (born 1 June 1940), registered at birth Giuseppe Pierazzi because of the

Italianization Italianization ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or assimilation. It is also known for a process organized by the Kingdom of Italy to force cultural and ethnic assimilation of the nati ...

policy under the Fascist regime, is a Slovene– Italian historian and a prominent diplomatic historian of the west

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

region, as well as a member of 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 ...

Biography

He was born in a Slovene-speaking family in Sežana, Slovenia, then part of the fascist Kingdom of Italy. His younger sister, Marija, became a translator and literary scholar. After

World War II 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 ...

, the family moved from Yugoslavia to the Free Territory of Trieste. In 1966, he received a degree in history from the University of Trieste and in 1971 graduated from the University of Pisa. He continued his studies at the Diplomatic Academy in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1977, he obtained his PhD in Ljubljana under the supervision of historian Fran Zwitter. In 1983 he became an associate professor at the University of Trieste, and in 1986 a full professor of Eastern European history at the Faculty of Political Science in Padua. He initially researched the relations between Italy and the South Slavic peoples during the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

in the mid-19th century. He continued with research on

Russian history The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in the year 862, ruled by Varangians. In 882, Prin ...

in the second half of the 19th century. Since the 1980s, he has been researching and publishing on the history of

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 ...

, the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

and the history of the Slovenes in Italy. In 1988 he received the Kidrič Fund Award for his book ''Tito, Stalin and the West'', and in 2002 he received the Premio Acqui Award for his monograph on the 1991-1999 Yugoslav Wars. He is currently head of the history department at the University of Primorska in

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

. In 2009, he was elected a full member of the

. He has also been active in public life, including party politics. In the 1990s, he was an active member of the Slovene Union, the

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

party of the Slovene minority in the Italian region of

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

. Since 2005, he has been an active member of the

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (, LDS) is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Between 1992 and 2004, it (and its main predecessor, the Liberal Democratic Party) was the largest (and ruling) party in the country. In the 2011 Slovenian pa ...

. In 2008, he unsuccessfully ran for the

Slovenian Parliament The Slovenian Parliament () is the informal designation of the general representative democracy, representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislature, legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slo ...

in the district of Sežana. Pirjevec is both an Italian and Slovenian citizen. Besides Slovene and Italian, he is fluent in German, English,

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

, Russian and French languages. He is a member of the Honorary Board of the European Association of History Educators.

Major works

In Italian * ''Niccolò Tommaseo tra Italia e Slavia'' ("

Niccolò Tommaseo Niccolò Tommaseo (; 9 October 1802 – 1 May 1874) was a Dalmatian Italian linguist, journalist and essayist, the editor of a (''A Dictionary of the Italian Language'') in eight volumes (1861–74), of a dictionary of synonyms (1830) and other ...

between Italy and the Slavic World"). Venice: Marsilio, 1977. * ''Storia della Russia del XIX secolo (1800-1917)'' ("History of Russia in the 19th Century (1800-1917)"). Padua: Francesco Vallardi, 1984. * ''Tito, Stalin e l'Occidente'' (" Tito,

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and the West"). Trieste: Editoriale Stampa Triestina, 1985. * ''Trieste, città di frontiera'' ("Trieste, a City on the Border). Trieste: Lint, 1989. * ''Il Giorno di san Vito. Jugoslavia 1918-1992: storia di una tragedia'' ("St. Vitus Day. Yugoslavia 1918-1992: History of a Tragedy). Turin: Nuova Eri, 1993. * ''Serbi, Croati, Sloveni : storia di tre nazioni'' ("

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

, Slovenes: History of Three Nations"). Bologna: Il Mulino, 1995. * ''L'altra resistenza: la guerra di liberazione a Trieste e nella Venezia Giulia'' ("The Other Resistance: the Liberation Fight in Trieste and the Julian March"), co-authored with Marta Verginella and Roberto Spazzali. Trieste: Qualestoria, 1995. * ''Storia degli sloveni in Italia, 1866-1998'' ("History of the Slovenes in Italy, 1866-1998). Co-authored with

Milica Kacin Wohinz Milica Kacin Wohinz (née Brezigar; 12 October 1930 – 29 December 2021) was a Slovenian historian best known for her seminal study on the history of the forceful Italianization of the Slovene minority in Italy (1920–1947) that took place be ...

. Venice: Marsilio, 1998. * ''Le guerre jugoslave, 1991-1999'' ("The Yugoslav Wars"). Turin: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2001. * ''Foibe : una storia d'Italia'' (" Foibe: An Italian History). Turin: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2009. In Slovene * ''Tržaški vozel. 1945-1980'' ("The Trieste Knot. 1945-1980"). Trieste: Založništvo tržaškega tiska, 1985. * ''Vojna in mir na Primorskem'' ("War and Peace in the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg poss ...

"), editor. Koper: University of Primorska, 2005. * ''"Trst je naš!" Boj Slovencev za morje (1848-1954)'' ("'Trieste Is Ours!' The Slovene Struggle for the Access to the Sea (1848-1954)"). Ljubljana: '' Nova revija'', 2007. * ''Tito in tovariši'' ("Tito and the Comrades"). Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 2011.

References

External links

Report on Pirjevec's campaign activities during the 2008 parliamentary elections on the webpage of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirjevec, Joze 20th-century Slovenian historians 20th-century Italian historians Italian Slovenes Historians of the Balkans University of Trieste alumni University of Pisa alumni University of Ljubljana alumni Academic staff of the University of Trieste Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the University of Padua Academic staff of the University of Primorska Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 1940 births Living people 21st-century Italian historians 21st-century Slovenian historians