Argentines of Slovene descent
Encyclopedia
Argentines of Slovene descent, also Slovene Argentines or Argentine Slovenes , is a term referring to the group of Slovenes residing in Argentina
. According to Jernej Zupančič by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
, they number around 120,000.
mostly in the 20th century. The first were economic immigrants from the Prekmurje
region and the Hungarian Slovenes
. The second, much stronger wave was represented by Slovenes from the Julian March
who moved to Argentina in the 1930s to escape the Italian Fascist
persecution; they came mostly from the Vipava Valley
and the Kras
plateau. Their number was estimated at around 30,000. The third wave was composed of Slovene political immigrants that settled in Argentina after 1945 to escape Communist persecution. Their number was between 6,000 and 8,000. Most of the descendants of the latter group still use the Slovene language, including second and third-generation immigrants.
They are concentrated mainly in Buenos Aires
and Greater Buenos Aires
, Bariloche and Mendoza
, with some smaller communities settled in Rosario, San Miguel de Tucumán and Paraná
.
Slovene Argentines built social clubs where they meet regularly. These clubs act as cultural, sport and religious centres. There is usually also a Saturday primary school of Slovene language for children from 5 to 12 years of age in each of these centres. Three of these centres also hold a Saturday secondary school
for youths of ages ranging from 13 to 18. At the end of this course, the students usually travel to Slovenia where they attend to a two-week course of language and they know their predecessors' homeland.
They have many cultural, social and religious organizations, almost all of them associated in the Zedinjena Slovenija (United Slovenia) association. These organization edits a weekly newspaper in Slovene language called Svobodna Slovenija (Free Slovenia) in which news from Slovenia, the Slovenian community in Argentina and the Slovenian diaspora around the world are published. There are also other publications of cultural, social and religious content. The weekly religious paper Oznanilo (Notification, Announcement) has the highest edition of all publications. Many of the events in the Slovene community in Argentina are published in these paper.
Youths have their organization too, called SDO-SFZ, which was created in March 1949 and accepts Slovene Argentines from 15 to 35 years of age. Their main activities are sport tournaments, cultural acts, leisure activities, and religious and intellectual meetings, which are all held in Slovene language. In spite of normally speaking Spanish
among themselves, the majority of the youths speak Slovene quite fluently.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. According to Jernej Zupančič by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 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....
, they number around 120,000.
History
The Slovenes in Argentina are descendants of three main groups of immigrants that arrived from the Slovene LandsSlovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
mostly in the 20th century. The first were economic immigrants from the Prekmurje
Prekmurje
Prekmurje is a geographically, linguistically, culturally and ethnically defined region settled by Slovenes and lying between the Mur River in Slovenia and the Rába Valley in the most western part of Hungary...
region and the Hungarian Slovenes
Hungarian Slovenes
Hungarian Slovenes are an autochthonous ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in Hungary. The largest groups are the Rába Slovenes in the Rába Valley in western Hungary between the town of Szentgotthárd and the borders with Slovenia and Austria. They speak the Prekmurje dialect of Slovene...
. The second, much stronger wave was represented by Slovenes from the Julian March
Julian March
The Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
who moved to Argentina in the 1930s to escape the Italian Fascist
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
persecution; they came mostly from the Vipava Valley
Vipava Valley
The Vipava Valley is a valley located in the Slovenian Littoral, between the towns of Nova Gorica and Vipava.-Geography:It is a narrow valley, serving as the main passage between Friulian lowland and central Slovenia, and thus also an important corridor connecting Northern Italy to Central Europe...
and the Kras
Kras
Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
plateau. Their number was estimated at around 30,000. The third wave was composed of Slovene political immigrants that settled in Argentina after 1945 to escape Communist persecution. Their number was between 6,000 and 8,000. Most of the descendants of the latter group still use the Slovene language, including second and third-generation immigrants.
They are concentrated mainly in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
, Bariloche and Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...
, with some smaller communities settled in Rosario, San Miguel de Tucumán and Paraná
Paraná, Entre Ríos
Paraná is the capital city of the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province...
.
Slovene Argentines built social clubs where they meet regularly. These clubs act as cultural, sport and religious centres. There is usually also a Saturday primary school of Slovene language for children from 5 to 12 years of age in each of these centres. Three of these centres also hold a Saturday secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
for youths of ages ranging from 13 to 18. At the end of this course, the students usually travel to Slovenia where they attend to a two-week course of language and they know their predecessors' homeland.
They have many cultural, social and religious organizations, almost all of them associated in the Zedinjena Slovenija (United Slovenia) association. These organization edits a weekly newspaper in Slovene language called Svobodna Slovenija (Free Slovenia) in which news from Slovenia, the Slovenian community in Argentina and the Slovenian diaspora around the world are published. There are also other publications of cultural, social and religious content. The weekly religious paper Oznanilo (Notification, Announcement) has the highest edition of all publications. Many of the events in the Slovene community in Argentina are published in these paper.
Youths have their organization too, called SDO-SFZ, which was created in March 1949 and accepts Slovene Argentines from 15 to 35 years of age. Their main activities are sport tournaments, cultural acts, leisure activities, and religious and intellectual meetings, which are all held in Slovene language. In spite of normally speaking Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
among themselves, the majority of the youths speak Slovene quite fluently.
Notable personalities
- Ivan AhčinIvan AhcinIvan Ahčin was a Slovene sociologist, publicist, journalist, author and politician.He studied theology at the University of Ljubljana, where he graduated in 1925. He later worked as a professor of sociology at the University of Ljubljana...
, journalist, sociologist and politician - Andrej BajukAndrej BajukAndrej Bajuk, also known in Spanish as Andrés Bajuk was a Slovene politician and economist. He served shortly as Prime Minister of Slovenia in the year 2000, and Minister of Economy in the centre right government of Janez Janša between 2004 and 2008...
, banker and politician - Tine Debeljak, literary historian and essayist
- Bernarda FinkBernarda FinkBernarda Fink Inzko is an Argentinian mezzo-soprano. Born in Buenos Aires to Slovene parents, Bernarda Fink studied at the "Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón" in Buenos Aires. She won First Prize at the Nuevas Voces Líricas competition in 1985 and moved to Europe...
, opera singer - Emilio Komar, philosopher
- Anton NovačanAnton NovacanAnton Novačan was a Slovene politician, diplomat, author, and playwright.Novačan was born in a modest peasant family in the village of Zadobrova , in the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
, author, politician and diplomat - Pedro OpekaPedro OpekaPedro Pablo Opeka , known also as Padre Pedro or Father Pedro, is a Catholic priest from Argentina of Slovene descent, working as a missionary in Madagascar. He exemplifies a new type of missionary: not someone committed to converting and preaching, but someone fully dedicated to the poor, helping...
, missionary - Franc Rode, Roman Catholic prelatePrelateA prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
- Zorko Simčič, author
- Viktor SulčičViktor SulcicViktor Sulčič, also known as Víctor Sulcic, was a Slovenian born architect in Argentina. He was born in 1895 in Križ near Trieste, died in 1973 in Buenos Aires....
, architect - Juan Vasle, singer and journalist