Toussaint Hočevar (25 June 1927 – 21 April 1987) or Toussaint Hocevar was a

Slovenian American Slovene Americans or Slovenian Americans are Americans of full or partial Slovenes, Slovene or Slovenian ancestry. Slovenes mostly immigrated to America during the Slovenes#Emigration, Slovene mass emigration period from the 1880s to World War ...

economic historian Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of ...

Biography

Hočevar was born in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () has been its colloq ...

. He spent his childhood in the small town of

Vrhnika Vrhnika (; ;''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 120. ) is a town in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Vrhnika. It is locat ...

near Ljubljana, where his father served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. Between 1937 and 1941 Toussaint attended an elite private

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

high school in the town of Bol on the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

n island of

Brač Brač is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide.Dominican order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. After the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

in April 1941, he moved back to Slovenia and continued his studies at the

Bežigrad Grammar School Bežigrad Grammar School or Bežigrad Gymnasium () is a selective coeducational state secondary school. It is named after the Bežigrad district in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where it is located. For a number of years it has been the school with the h ...

in Ljubljana, graduating in 1945. In 1946 he enrolled at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

. The same year, however, he decided to leave

Communist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

and emigrate to the neighbouring

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. In 1951 he graduated from

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

at the University of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. The same year he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, continuing his studies at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. In 1957, he became professor at the

Northern State University Northern State University (NSU) is a public university in Aberdeen, South Dakota, United States. NSU is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and offers 45 bachelor's degrees, 53 minors, six associate degrees, 16 pre-professional prog ...

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen () is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 28,495. making it the third-most populous city in the state. Aberdeen is home of Northern State University. ...

. In 1960 he started teaching at

Keuka College Keuka College is a private college in Keuka Park, New York, United States. Founded in 1890, It is Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, classified among "Master's Colleges and Universities (small)" and Higher education accreditat ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, in 1966 at the

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, and then at the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

where he stayed until his death. He died in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, in 1987, and was buried in

Santa Rosa Beach, Florida Santa Rosa Beach is an unincorporated community in Walton County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Santa Rosa Beach is located at 30.3960324°, -86.2 ...

Academic achievements

Hočevar was one of the foremost researchers of the economic history of the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provinces, the Austrian Empi ...

and of the

western 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 ...

. He was one of the co-founders of the

Society for Slovene Studies A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

. He lectured at numerous universities in

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

, including the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, Klagenfurt and

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

. The ''Toussaint Hocevar Memorial Award'' granted by the University of New Orleans is named after him. Besides numerous treatises in history, economy and

system theory Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structur ...

, he was also the co-author, together with Miran Hladnik, of a popular manual of

Slovene language Slovene ( or ) or Slovenian ( ; ) is a South Slavic languages, South Slavic language of the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. Most of its 2.5 million speakers are the ...

for travelers, which was published

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

ly in 1988.

Major works

*''Slovenia's Role in Yugoslav Economy'' (Columbus, Ohio, 1964); *''The Structure of the Slovenian Economy 1848-1963'' (New York, 1965); *''Slovenski družbeni razvoj'' ("The Slovenian Social Development"; New Orleans, 1979); *''The European Monetary System : Its Evolution and Impact'', together with Ivan Ribnikar (New Orleans, 1982);

Sources and references

Alessio Lokar Alessio is an Italian male name, Italian form of Alexius. Individuals with the given name Alessio *Alessio Ascalesi (1872–1952), Italian cardinal * Alessio Bandieri (born 1974), Italian footballer *Alessio Boni (born 1966), Italian actor *Ale ...

, ''In honor of the memory of Toussaint S. Hočevar''. New York: Society for Slovene Studies, 1989. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hocevar, Toussaint American people of Slovenian descent 20th-century Slovenian historians University of Ljubljana alumni University of Innsbruck alumni University of Chicago alumni Florida State University faculty Academic staff of the University of Klagenfurt University of New Orleans faculty Economic historians Yugoslav academics Yugoslav emigrants to the United States 1927 births 1987 deaths Writers from Ljubljana 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Keuka College faculty American male non-fiction writers