julijska številka revije za Slovence po svetu »Slovenija danes

SUMMARIESThe Role of Slovenians in theNeighbouring Countries andEmigrants in the SlovenianIndependence ProcessIndependentSlovenia – amerit of ourcompatriots too“The story about the Slovenia’s independenceprocess could have been different if theSlovenian emigrants had not taken their partin it as well,” claims Matjaž Klemenčič, PhD, aprofessor of history at the University of Mariborwho devoted a major part of his scientific workto studying the history of Slovenian emigrantsand minorities. As he is an outstanding experton the issue and an avid collector of sourcesabout the efforts the Slovenian emigrantsand Slovenians in the neighbouring countrieshave made for the recognition of Slovenia’sindependence we invited Klemenčič to sharehis views with us just before the Slovenia’sindependence anniversary. He is positiveabout our compatriots being very successfulin endeavours for the recognition of Slovenia’sindependence. “If we fail to collect and publishthe materials about this now, everything willsink into oblivion,” warns Klemenčič.Slovenian World CongressSlovenianDoctors FacingNew ChallengesThere was a 7th traditional Slovenian doctorsfrom Slovenia and abroad conference held, organisedas part of the Slovenian World Congresswhich happened between 9th and 11th June inLjubljana. The doctors’ conference has gained agreat reputation in medical circles over the pasttwelve years which is ever since the doctors havebeen meeting. The central purpose of the conferencewith the Slovenian Prime Minister BorutPahor as the honorary patron and the MedicalChamber of Slovenia as the main sponsor wasstrengthening the collaboration between theSlovenian doctors from home and abroad, encouragingthe mutual exchange of experienceand deepening the mutual ties. Facts are thatthere are many established experts, doctors included,among the Slovenians who live abroadand that medical profession has never recognisedthe concept of borders. We talked to somerespected attendees at the conference.France Arhar, the best financierof 2010Not everythingis the state’sfault!The former Bank of Slovenia governor, theformer presidential candidate and the currentUnicredit Bank chairman of the board FranceArhar, PhD, has been proclaimed the financierof the year on the Kapital financial fair onceagain. According to him, a good financier needsto know how to keep his promises and fulfilthem completely and on time. “Think twicebefore you make a promise,” he says. He alsothinks that the Slovenian society as a wholelacks integrity. According to the other countries’experiences he expects that the recovery ofthe Slovenian economy is going to last for atleast five more years. After what he saw andexperienced in the election campaign during thetime of his candidacy, politics does not tempthim anymore. However, he says that withoutthe experience from the political field he wouldbe a really big idealist.Perpetuum JazzileA Vocal Treatfrom SloveniaTouring NorthAmericaThe number of Perpetuum Jazzile choir’screative highlights grows year after year. Thesong covers of two Avsenik’s songs are takingthe same path as the famous song cover ofAfrica which was viewed by several ten millionsof people on Youtube. The collaboration of theSwedish virtuoso Peder Karlsson who took overthe choir after Tomaž Kozlevčar is regardedas fantastic. Currently, the choir is touringNorth America. Before that they successfullyfinished their European tour part of which werealso performances at the 20th anniversaryof the Slovenian independence celebrationceremonies, organised by the Sloveneembassies in Berlin, Prague and Zagreb. Justbefore leaving for the tours, Jan Trost talked toSlovenija danes about the choir’s achievementsand future plans.Miro ZupančičNew YorkDiscovereda SlovenianPainterAfter we wrote about a sad New York destinyand presented an unfulfilled artistic soul ofKarl Mehle in the last issue of our magazine,we now give you an encouraging Americanstory of his compatriot Miro Zupančič who wasjust then making his way out of anonymity.Miro Zupančič, who still lives in New York,came to the Big Apple in 1963 but the twoSlovenians, closer compatriots in the heart ofthe metropolis, never knew anything abouteach other. The author of the article took MiroZupančič, who bought an old house togetherwith his wife close to Sveta Ema near RogaškaSlatina, to the house of Mehle’s daughterVirginia in Celje. Enthused by the quality of KarlMehle’s works, his ingenious talent and originalartistic power he admired miniatures in oil,gouache and watercolour and expressed a high,flattering expert recognition to the deceasedco-creator. Miro Zupančič described his artisticpath for our magazine.Basketball Player Primož BrezecThis Summerthe Priority isFamilyPrimož Brezec is a real Slovenian sportslegionary. At the age of 21 he was a promisingbasketball player and already then he startedhis international career. From the native Sežanahe first went to Ljubljana to Olimpija fromwhere he headed to the USA. In the NBA leaguehe played for six teams and later on returnedto Europe to Italy and then to Russia where herecently made a living by playing for the Samarateam. He finished the season prematurely dueto an ankle injury. This is also one of the reasonswhy he decided to cancel his attendance at thecoming European championship in Lithuaniawhere the selected team led by the legendaryBožidar Maljković would really need anexperienced centre of 216 cm.But Brezec does not wantto take risks. Besides thecomplete regeneration themain reason for the breakis his family with which hedoes not have a chance tospend a lot of time togetherdue to the nature of hisprofession. We present PrimožBrezec as a sportsmen and aperson in the currentissue of Slovenijadanes.48