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

Italianization Italianization ( it, italianizzazione; hr, talijanizacija; french: italianisation; sl, poitaljančevanje; german: Italianisierung; el, Ιταλοποίηση) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or a ...

policy under the Fascist regime, is a Slovene–

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

historian and a prominent diplomatic historian of the west

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as 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 throughout the who ...

region, as well as a member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members o ...

Biography

He was born in a Slovene-speaking family in

Sežana Sežana (; it, Sesana) is a town in the Slovenian Littoral region of Slovenia, near the border with Italy. It is the seat of the Municipality of Sežana. Sežana is located on the Karst Plateau, from Trieste, Italy, and from Ljubljana, the cap ...

, 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, 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 opposin ...

, the family moved from Yugoslavia to the Free Territory of Trieste. In 1966, he received a degree in history from the

University of Trieste The University of Trieste ( it, Università degli Studi di Trieste, or UniTS) is a public research university in Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy. The university consists of 10 departments, boasts a wide and almos ...

and in 1971 graduated from the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. He continued his studies at the Diplomatic Academy 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 ...

. In 1977, he obtained his PhD in Ljubljana under the supervision of historian

Fran Zwitter Fran Zwitter (24 October 1905 – 14 April 1988) was a Slovenian historian. Together with Milko Kos, Bogo Grafenauer, and Vasilij Melik, he is considered the co-founder of the Ljubljana School of Historiography. Life and work He was born ...

. In 1983 he became an associate professor at the

, 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 ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

in 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 862, ruled by Varangians. Staraya Ladoga and Veli ...

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

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, 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 in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

and the history of the

Slovenes in Italy Slovene minority in Italy ( it, Minoranza slovena in Italia, sl, Slovenska manjšina v Italiji), also known as Slovenes in Italy ( it, Sloveni in Italia, sl, Slovenci v Italiji) is the name given to Italian citizens who belong to the autochthon ...

. 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 University of Primorska (Slovenian ''Univerza na Primorskem'', Italian ''Università del Litorale'') is by age and size the third university in Slovenia. It is located in Koper, Izola, and Portorož and is named for the Slovenian Littoral region ...

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 ...

. 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 Slovene Union ( sl, Slovenska skupnost, SSk, it, Unione Slovena, US) is a political party in Italy representing the Slovene minority in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Its Slovenian language name means literally "Slovene Community", but th ...

, the

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

party of the Slovene minority in the Italian region of

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

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

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia ( sl, Liberalna demokracija Slovenije, LDS) is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Between 1992 and 2004 it was the largest (and ruling) party in the country. In the 2011 Slovenian parliamentary election, i ...

. In 2008, he unsuccessfully ran for the

Slovenian Parliament The Slovenian Parliament ( sl, Slovenski parlament) is the informal designation of the general representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia, the gene ...

in the district of

. Pirjevec is both an Italian and Slovenian citizen. Besides Slovene and

, he is fluent in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and French languages. He is a member of the Honorary Board of the

European Association of History Educators The European Association of History Educators (EuroClio) was established in 1992 with the support of the Council of Europe. The NGO works as a European wide facilitator for innovation and progress in history Education. The organisation contributes ...

Major works

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

Niccolò Tommaseo Niccolò Tommaseo (; 9 October 1802 – 1 May 1874) was a Dalmatian linguist, journalist and essayist, the editor of a ''Dizionario della Lingua Italiana'' in eight volumes (1861–74), of a dictionary of synonyms (1830) and other works. He is ...

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 Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

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 the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

Croats 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 ...

, 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 Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...

"), co-authored with

Marta Verginella Marta Verginella (born 20 June 1960) is a Slovenian historian from the Slovene minority in Italy in Trieste, notable as one of the most prominent contemporary Slovene historians. Together with Alenka Puhar, she is considered a pioneer in the h ...

and

Roberto Spazzali The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. 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 bet ...

. Venice: Marsilio, 1998. *''Le guerre jugoslave, 1991-1999'' ("The Yugoslav Wars"). Turin: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2001. *''Foibe : una storia d'Italia'' ("

Foibe A foiba (from Italian: ; plural: foibe or foibas) — ''jama'' () in South Slavic languages scientific and colloquial vocabulary (borrowed since early research in the Western Balkan Dinaric Alpine karst) — is a type of deep natural sinkhole ...

: 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 ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Ad ...

"), editor. Koper:

, 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