HISTORIAN OF THE WESTERN SLOVENE NATIONAL EDGE

written by PETRA KOLENC

Dr. Branko Marušič (1938–2026) was one of the central researchers of the history of the western Slovenian ethnic area, especially the historical Goriška, the later northern Primorska and the cross-border area between Slovenia and Italy. His work significantly marked the understanding of the historical identity of Goriška as a multicultural, multilingual and politically extremely sensitive area, marked by the conflicts of the 20th century.

He was born in Travnik in Gorizia before World War II and grew up in Solkan during a period of great political changes that marked Primorska: fascism, war, temporary border, Zone A, Zone B, the creation of Nova Gorica and overcoming life on the border. It was this historical experience of the border area that greatly influenced his research path when he enrolled in the study of history at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. He was not only interested in great political history, but above all in a Primorska person with a name and surname in a specific historical time and space, who in his life encountered questions of identity, socio-political engagement, cultural and linguistic intertwining and an exceptional biography, to which the vigilant historian dedicated one of the many slogans in Primorsky Slovene Biographical Lexicon .

For many years he was associated with the Goriška Museum, which he led as director between 1965 and 1987, at a time when “physical work, even among intellectuals, was not yet shameful!” Under his leadership, the museum developed into an important regional institution that not only cared about the collections, but also for the research and interpretation of the history of Goriška. He founded the magazine Goriški letnik and the local history collection Berila. He paid special attention to the history of both Gorizia, life along the border, and the relationship between urban and rural areas.

As a researcher, he first joined the Institute for Ethnic Issues, and later continued his research at the Milko Kos Historical Institute at the ZRC SAZU, whose dislocated unit in Nova Gorica – with the custody of one of the largest bourgeois libraries in the Gorizia region, the Library with the Archives of Dr. Henrik Tuma, – developed thanks to him into the multidisciplinary Research Station of the ZRC SAZU, which expanded its activities in 2024 and offered the city the Maks Bookstore and Café.

Marušič’s bibliography includes numerous monographs, treatises, articles, editorial works and catalogues. There are more than 700 bibliographical units. He wrote about the national and political history of Goriška in the 19th century, relations between Slovenes and Italians in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Tiger and anti-fascist movements, the history of the Slovenian press, local administration and social life, the life of Slovenes under Italy, the border and the formation of the cross-border space after 1945, and the cultural history of Primorska. In his work, he also collaborated with numerous Slovenian institutions abroad, such as the National and Study Library in Trieste and the Slovenian Research Institute (SLORI), and he published his findings and publications in the Slovenian newspaper abroad and at the Goriška Mohorjeva družba.

The special value of his work was his ability to connect Slovenian and Italian sources. He knew the archives on both sides of the border very well, which is why he was able to treat the history of Goriška comprehensively, without national simplifications, with the right objectivity for a member of the mixed Slovenian-Italian cultural and historical commission, which adopted the report. Slovenian-Italian relations 1880–1956. He was one of those historians who pointed out that Goriška was historically formed as an interweaving of the Slavic, Romance and Central European worlds.

Marušič was not only an academic researcher, but also an extremely active public intellectual. He often participated in lectures, round tables and exhibitions. At local cultural and commemorative events, he gave numerous speeches on the discoveries of monuments, anniversaries important to Primorska, he was the initiator and speaker at the discoveries of new monuments in numerous Primorska villages. In this way, he was also able to bring history closer to a wider audience, especially to the inhabitants of Primorska, who recognized the history of their region in his words.

He also contributed greatly to strengthening awareness of the uniqueness of Nova Gorica and its history. He understood the city as the result of historical turning points after the Second World War, but at the same time as a place of new connections between the two countries and cultures. He was enthusiastic about following its development and the development of younger researchers who continue his work, also in the visionary and long-outlined text: The work to date and future tasks of a historian and historiographer from Gorizia (Chronicle, 1964) . He selflessly helped everyone and shared his knowledge in formal or informal conversations, encouraging them to research topics with a common denominator: Primorska – historical Gorizia.

His work is also important because of his methodological approach: he did not understand local history as marginal or inferior, but as a key way of understanding broader European processes. Through Goriška, he opened up questions of the individual, nationalism, borders, migration, modernization, and cultural memory in the Central European space.

He received several awards for his work (Valvasor Award, award from the Association of Historical Societies of Yugoslavia, Honorary Member of the ZRC SAZU), he was also an honorary citizen of the Municipality of Nova Gorica), which is why he is recognized as one of the key figures in the historiography of the Littoral region of the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. His legacy remains important both for historians and for all who research the identity and cultural heritage of the western Slovenian ethnic area.

He died on May 2, 2026 in Solkan, where he rests “On his own land.”