Vinko Ošlak (born 23 June 1947) is a Slovene

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, essayist,

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

and

esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

from the

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 ...

n state of

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

. Ošlak was born in the town of Slovenj Gradec, then part of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia in former Yugoslavia. After completing his primary and high school education in his native province of

Slovenian Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ), also Slovene Carinthia or Slovenian Carinthia (''Slovenska Koroška''), is a traditional region in northern Slovenia. The term refers to the small southeasternmost area of the former Duchy of Carinthia, which after World War I ...

, 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 ...

, where he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. Due to economic problems, he quit the studies and dedicated himself to

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

. A devout

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 ...

, he became active in the Slovenian Christian intellectual subculture around the alternative journal ''Revija 2000'' ("Review 2000"). Among others, he became a close friend of the Slovenian Christian Socialist poet and dissident Edvard Kocbek, who strongly influenced Ošlak's spiritual and intellectual development. Due to his critical attitude towards the

Titoist Titoism is a Types of socialism, socialist political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito and refers to the ideology and policies of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) during the Cold War. It is characterized by a br ...

regime, Ošlak was unable to get a job as journalist, and worked as a manual worker. In 1983, after pettifoggery by the Yugoslav secret police, Ošlak decided to move to Austria. He settled in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, and became involved in the cultural activities of the Carinthian Slovene minority. He enrolled at the Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj in

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

, where he graduated from

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in 1991 with a thesis on

Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...

' state philosophy. Two years later, he obtained an MA at the same institution with a thesis entitled "Identity and Communication in the Case of the Slovene Minority in Carinthia". Ošlak has written several books of essays in Slovene, German and

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

. He also writes columns in several Slovenian and Austrian journals. In 2003, he received the Rožanc Award, the highest award for essayism in Slovenia. From 1989 to 2006, Ošlak worked as an official at the Slovene section of the

Catholic Action Catholic Action is a movement of Catholic laity, lay people within the Catholic Church which advocates for increased Catholic influence on society. Catholic Action groups were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic cou ...

for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk. During this time, he appeared in public as a Catholic intellectual. In 2006, however, he left the Roman Catholic Church and joined the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

community. He especially criticised the political involvement of the Roman Catholic Church and its lack of commitment to the

Christian eschatology Christian eschatology is a minor branch of study within Christian theology which deals with the doctrine of the "last things", especially the Second Coming of Christ, or Parousia. The word eschatology derives from two Greek roots meaning "last ...

. Since 2004, Ošlak has served as the chairman of the Esperantist centre of the International P.E.N.

References

Short biographyBiography in the journal DnevnikArticle on Ošlak in the journal MladinaEvangelical Mission in Esperanto.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oslak, Vinko Slovenian essayists Slovenian translators Slovenian columnists Slovenian Esperantists Writers from Klagenfurt People from Slovenj Gradec Living people 1947 births Slovenian Protestants Converts to evangelical Christianity from Roman Catholicism