Jakob Savinšek (4 February 1922 – 17 August 1961) was a Slovene

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, illustrator, and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

Life

Savinšek was born in the

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

n town of

Kamnik Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is t ...

, then part of 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 s ...

(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, an ...

), where he spent his youth. After finishing secondary school 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 are ...

, he studied

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

at 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 the late 1930s and early 1940s, he studied drawing under the tutorship of

Rihard Jakopič Rihard Jakopič (12 April 1869 – 21 April 1943) was a Slovene painter. He was the leading Slovene Impressionist painter, patron of arts and theoretician. Together with Matej Sternen, Matija Jama and Ivan Grohar, he is considered the pio ...

and sculpture under the supervision of Karla Bulovec Mrak. 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the Italian annexation of Ljubljana he was imprisoned in

Ljubljana Castle Ljubljana Castle ( sl, Ljubljanski grad, german: Laibacher Schloss) is a castle complex standing on Castle Hill above downtown Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is a key landmark of the town. Originally a medieval fortress, it was probably ...

for collaborating 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 ...

. In 1942, he was later sent to the

Gonars concentration camp The Gonars concentration camp was one of the several Italian concentration camps and it was established on February 23, 1942, near Gonars, Italy. Many internees were transferred to this camp from the other Italian concentration camp, Rab concen ...

. He was released after the

Italian armistice The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

in September 1943. A devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, he decided to join the

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 ...

, an Anti-Communist militia collaborating with the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

against the Partisan resistance. He deserted before the end of the war, thus securing himself an indulgent treatment by the new

Titoist Titoism is a political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War. It is characterized by a broad Yugoslav identity, workers' self-management, a political separation from the Soviet Union, and leadership in the ...

regime.

Taras Kermauner Taras Kermauner (13 April 1930 – 11 June 2008) was a Slovenian literary history, literary historian, critic, philosopher, essayist, playwright and translator. Life Taras Kermauner was born in Ljubljana as the son of the Communist Party of Slove ...

, Skupinski portret z Dušanom Pirjevcem (Ljubljana: ZPS, 2002), 159-160 Between 1945 and 1949, he studied sculpture at the

Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana The Academy of Fine Arts and Design ( sl, Akademija za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje, also known by the acronym ALUO), is an art academy and institution based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.Drago Tršar Drago may refer to: People * Drago (given name) * Drago (surname) * Drago (wrestler), Mexican professional wrestler Víctor Soto * Drago Dumbovic, Croatian footballer known simply as Drago * Drago, nickname of Alexander Volkov * Prince del Drago ...

, Boris and Zdenko Kalin. He continued his studies in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and Switzerland. In the late 1950s, he entered in conflict with the foremost Slovenian sculptor of the time, Stojan Batič, and founded his own artistic circle, composed not only of young and talented visual artist, but of literates and theatre people such as Dino Radojević, Herbert Grün, Saša Vuga,

Dušan Pirjevec Dušan Pirjevec, known by his nom de guerre Ahac (20 March 1921 – 4 August 1977), was a Slovenian Partisan, literary historian and philosopher. He was one of the most influential public intellectuals in post–World War II Slovenia. Earl ...

and

Andrej Hieng Andrej Hieng (17 February 1925 – 17 January 2000) was a Slovene language, Slovene writer, playwright and theatre director. Hieng was born in Ljubljana in 1925. He studied at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, Academy of ...

.''Dušan Pirjevec: slovenska kultura in literarna veda'' (Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta), 310-11 He died in Kirchheim,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, while attending a sculptors' workshop. He is buried in

Žale Žale Central Cemetery ( sl, Centralno pokopališče Žale), often simply Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad District and operated by the Žale Public Company. History The ce ...

Cemetery in Ljubljana.

Work

Savinšek dedicated himself mostly to figural art, with a preference in psychologically analytic portraits and female nudes.expressionism (especially the works of France Kralj), but he gradually turned to his own modernist style, in which he experimented with the volume of sculpture. He also produced some graphics and illustrations. His best-known works are the monuments to

Julius Kugy Julius Kugy (19 July 1858 – 5 February 1944) was a mountaineer, writer, botanist, humanist, lawyer and officer of Slovenian descent. He wrote mostly in German. He is renowned for his travelogues from opening up the Julian Alps, in which he refle ...

in the Trenta Valley (in the Municipality of Bovec) and to

Ivan Tavčar Ivan Tavčar () (28 August 1851 – 19 February 1923) was a Slovenian writer, lawyer, and politician. Biography Tavčar was born into the poor peasant family of Janez and Neža née Perko in the Carniolan village of Poljane near Škofja Loka ...

at his mansion in

Visoko Visoko ( sr-cyrl, Високо, ) is a city located in the Zenica-Doboj Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 39,938 inhabitants with 11,205 liv ...

, and the monument ''War and Peace'' in Celje. He was also a renowned book illustrator. Among others, he illustrated books by Slavko Grum, Miran Jarc, and Alojz Gradnik. Gradnik admired Savinšek's work, and the two developed a close friendship. Savinšek also wrote poetry throughout most of his adult life, but he never published it. His manuscripts are kept in the

National and University Library of Slovenia The National and University Library ( sl, Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, ), established in 1774, is one of the most important national educational and cultural institutions of Slovenia. It is located in the centre of Ljubljana, between Aue ...

. The first collections of his poems was published in 2003 by the literary magazine ''KUD Logos'', edited by the philosopher

Gorazd Kocijančič Gorazd Kocijančič (born 17 September 1964) is a freelance Slovene philosopher, poet and translator. Kocijančič is well known for his translation of the entire corpus of Plato's work into Slovene. Selected publications Kocijančič has p ...

References

Sources

*Andrej Smrekar, "Jakob Savinšek: ob dvajsetletnici smrti" in ''NR Po Svetu'' (August 28, 1981).
Recension of Savinšek's poetry in KUD Logos magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savinsek, Jakob 1922 births 1961 deaths Slovenian poets Slovenian male poets 20th-century Slovenian sculptors 20th-century Slovenian male artists Slovenian illustrators Slovenian Roman Catholics People from Kamnik University of Ljubljana alumni Yugoslav poets Yugoslav sculptors

Life

Work

See also

References

Sources