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natural heritage
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memories
important personalities
stories and legends
customs
Turist inforamtion centre Ajdovščina
Lokarjev drevored 8
5270 Ajdovščina
tel.: +386 53 659 140
Lokarjev drevored 8
5270 Ajdovščina
tel.: +386 53 659 140
important personalities
ANTON BRECELJ (1875 – 1943) - Politician, Journalist and Doctor
Anton Brecelj was born on 9 June 1875 in the village of Žapuže near the village of Šturje. His father was Franc Brecelj, a tailor and an owner of a small property and his mother was Terezija Slejko. He attended primary school in Šturje, grammar school in Ljubljana and in 1895 he enrolled for the study of medicine and was awarded a doctorate in 1901. At first he worked as an assistant at a clinic in Graz, but in 1903 he returned to Gorizia, where he worked as a private doctor and later as the head of the hospital of the Brothers of Mercy. Moreover, he worked in Gorizia between the First World War, helping the wounded battling on the Isonzo Front, but only until August 1916, when the Italians occupied the territory. Brecelj did not return to Gorizia until the defeated Italian troops left the front. After the overthrow he was awarded a commissioner for health in the National Government of Slovenia. However, on 4 November 1918 in Ljubljana he publicly refused the title, for he wanted to stay and continue to work in Gorizia.
In 1920 he was forced to move to Ljubljana, where he worked as the head of the disabled ward at the Commission for Social Welfare till 1922, when he decided to resign from the civil service. Afterwards he worked as a paediatrician and a doctor for internal organs in a private hospital till his death on 22 September 1943.
While attending grammar school Brecelj was very fond of a certain movement that took rise with the first Catholic gathering in Ljubljana. He stated that he was writing for the supplement for students of Mahnič's newspaper, called the Roman Catholic (Rimski katolik), although articles in this supplement were not signed by the authors. It is presumed that the article titled How to Prove Spirituality and Immortality of the Human Soul? (Kako se dokaže duhovnost in neumrljivost človeške duše?, published in the Roman Catholic V, 1893, supplement for students, pgs. 42 – 45), signed by Sixgrader, is actually Brecelj's writing as he was that year attending the sixth grade. Brecelj himself made several statements about being engaged with philosophy. He admired Mahnič and his work, but he openly refused his critic of Gregorčič's poems, once while lecturing as an eightgrader in Ljubljana and once in a discussion with him as a theologian. Later on, Brecelj wrote several personal reminiscences about Gregorčič (The Nightingale of Gorizia, 1937, pgs. 13 – 18) and he opposed Tuma when tarnishing Gregorčič’s name and reputation (The Poet Simon Gregorčič in.Tuma's Eyes). Being a student of medicine he made acquaintance with Janez Evangelist Krek and was his close friend till his death.
Brecelj was present also in the students’ public life. At first he was a member of the Triglav Academic Association, but only until 1898, when he decided to withdraw from the association and together with his colleagues founded the Naprej Catholic Educational Association for the Slovene workers and students in Graz. But as early as in spring 1901, the liberal academics have taken over the association and ostracized the clerical workers and students. As a response, Catholic academics have on 6 June 1901 founded their own association called Zarja. At the gathering of the Slovene Catholic students in 1898 Brecelj spoke of the organization and of the united Slovene nation. He said: »I am sure that Catholicism is the greatest joy of our nation«, (A. Ušeničnik, Po shodu slovenskih visokošolcev. KO 1898. Pgs. 345 – 353). At the second gathering of the Catholic academics on 13 September 1898 Brecelj lectured on alcoholism in regards to the social conditions (A. Učeničnik, Drugi sestanek krščansko mislečega akademiškega dijaštva. KO 1899. Pgs. 345 – 379).
Brecelj also took part in publishing the Catholic students' newspaper called Zora, where he used a pseudonym Bogdan Kazek. In 1898 he contributed several detailed articles titled This and That (To in ono) to the newspaper, in which he wrote about »the New Stream« (he was referring to the New Stream in literature and not to the later political stream in the Gorizia region), about the culture and the Catholicism. Next year he published two articles titled Our Future (Naša Bodočnost) and A Letter about Love Between a Man and a Woman (Pismo o ljubezni med moškim in žensko). At the same time Brecelj had been also writing for the magazine Catholic Review (Katoliški obzornik) and between 1897 and 1899 he published 180 pages long scientific-critical disquisition on Darwinian theory of evolution titled Darwinism (Darvinizem) written as a discussion between the doctor Vinko and the professor Božidar. In 1900 Brecelj published a medical-sociological disquisition on tuberculosis, titled Tuberculosis (Jetika, pgs. 319 – 330) and in 1901 he published an article titled Faith and Morals – the Legacy of the Mankind (Vera in nravnost – pradediščina človeštva) in the column Apologetic Thoughts (Apologetične misli, pgs. 242 – 257). Besides all these, Brecelj contributed to the Catholic Review also some other short notices. In this magazine Brecelj signed his name only with his abbreviations A. B. and after he took the doctor's degree Brecelj stopped publishing and writing.
Being a Krek's student, Brecelj participated in social, educational and national-political activities in Gorizia. On 11 March 1906 he spoke of workers' apartments at the collective general gathering of the Slovene Catholic Workers' Association and of the Skalnica Women's Association. He assured that bad living conditions are the reason for illnesses and diseases that spread among workers and demanded to establish a Building Association in Gorizia, which would have provided healthy apartments for the workers (Newspaper of the Littoral – Primorski list, 22 March 1906). In the next issue of the Newspaper of the Littoral, issued on 29 March 1906, Brecelj published his first appeal to found a building association called My Own Home, which later on built quite a few simple single-family houses with a garden for workers in Livada, in the suburbs of the town of Gorizia.
Brecelj was also engaged in teaching as he quite often lectured in the country. In 1907 the Catholic Socialist Union, an union of teaching associations, was established in Gorizia. Brecelj was appointed a chairman of the union and eventually public work drew him into politics. In that time the politics in Gorizia region split. The then leader Anton Gregorčič, who accomplished a lot in educational and economical sphere, was too commanding and conservative and by all means not the man of principles. A group of younger educated and uneducated people as well as priests was slowly forming an opposition against Anton Gregorčič and eventually got the name The New Stream.
The Catholic Printing Association was founded in 1908 on the initiative of J. Srebrnič. This association enabled publishing of the weekly newspaper Novi čas (The New Time), which was being issued from 29 December 1909 till 24 July 1915 i.e. two months after the battling on the Isonzo Front started. Moreover, this was at that time the only newspaper in Gorizia. Disagreement between A. Gregorčič and The New Stream was at the elections to the provincial assembly in July 1913 a crucial element, which contributed to the ultimate split between them. Brecelj also stood as a candidate at these elections but was unfortunately not elected. In the last year of the First World War Brecelj helped the members of The New Stream to renew and reestablish the Union and other economic associations and clubs. In September 1918 a weekly newspaper the Goriška straža (the Gorizia Guard) was established and the first issue was published on 19 September.
Brecelj contributed a lot also to the founding of the National Council for the Gorizia Region.
In 1918 Brecelj issued his first book, titled Fighting Tuberculosis (Jetiki boj), which was published in Ljubljana. In the preface of the book, which was written in Ajdovščina, Brecelj wrote that he had already been writting and lecturing in the Gorizia region on tuberculosis as a matter of social environment. On 24 May 1917 a gathering of mayors, priests and teachers took place in Vipava, where they amongst other discussed also about the government's plan for founding a hospital for the sick suffering from lung diseases. Brecelj reported about this common disease and was ordered to write a book on tuberculosis in easy language. Brecelj mentioned in his book that while he was still a student, Janez Evangelist Krek advised him on hygiene and health care, which are two basic elements »for the financial and spiritual growth of the poor people« (pg. 47).
After the war Brecelj moved to Ljubljana, where he started to write for the Mladika newspaper that has in 1923 moved its headquarters from Gorizia to Prevalje. Between 1923 and 1925 he published nine short scientific papers in easy language in the Mladika newspaper and in 1938 he published the tenth one. In 1925 at the death of the senior politician Anton Gregorčič from Gorizia, Brecelj wrote some nice lines in his reminiscence, titled In memory of Dr Anton Gregorčič (V spomin dr. Antonu Gregorčiču), which was published in the Mladika newspaper (pgs. 350 – 351). Between 1931 and 1936 he published in the same newspaper approximately 40 long articles about his experience in medical treatment with lots of autobiographical elements in them. Some of them were also published in 1938 in the book titled Doctor's Memories (Zdravnikovi spomini). Moreover, in 1926 Brecelj published a book titled General Biology (Splošno živeljenjeslovje ali biologija) at the publishing house Družba Sv. Mohorja from Prevalje, in which he wrote about the body, spirit, inheritance, diseases, ageing, dying and immortality all from the Catholic point of view. In the preface to this book, which was written on Candlemas Day in 1925, Brecelj said that years before the war Krek had been persuading him to start writing a book about the human. The fourth and also his last book is titled Sexual Matters - General Survey (Spolne zadeve v preglednih obrisih) and was published in 1938 by the publishing house Družba sv. Mohorja in Celje. The preface of this book was written on Angel Sunday, on the first Sunday in September, in 1937. In the preface Brecelj says: »I started to write this book 30 years ago on the initiative of my dear friend and teacher, Janez Evangelist Krek. I still keep my manuscript of the first chapter, where I lost my inspiration and my writing stopped«. This book is a modernly composed piece of writing and shows a lot of knowledge and understanding of this eternal question.
After the First World War he started writing for the magazine Čas (Time) and his first article was a review of a book Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Spolne bolezni) by Josip Demšar, which Brecelj wrote in 1920.
For every year between 1921 and 1925 Brecelj wrote detailed social-scientific reports on the nation's health or better on medical condition in Slovenia, based on official and exact statistical and other data. Later on, he was working on the sex question, related to the intelligence quotient. In 1923 he published an article titled Health Matters in Julian March (Zdravstvene zadeve v Julijski krajini).
Brecelj spoke also at the 5th Catholic gathering in Ljubljana. His speech was titled About Family and the Women Question. In the circular letter Casta occonnubia Brecelj published his reflection on health in the article, titled Family and Health (Družina in zdravje), where he analysed the stigmatization, regarding the renowned Tereza Neumann from Konnersreuth, judged the option of sterility and reported on the Russian experience of abortion. He lectured on religion and health care as an introduction to pastoral medicine and wrote about forced abortions, art of medicine, health and sickness, sex education and compared health care in the past and now.
In the next volume Brecelj published only a couple of reviews of two medical books, as he decided not to write for the magazine Čas anymore. Brecelj wrote another article, which does not concern health or social matters but politics. The article is titled Dr. Anton Gregorčič and the Party (Dr. Anton Gregorčič in stranka) and was published also in the magazine Čas in 1924/25. In this article Brecelj refers to Gregorčič as the greatest contributor in the field of culture in the Gorizia region in the last 30 years and gives some realistic reasons, which split Gregorčič and The New Stream.
For the special collection of discussions Slovenians Between 1918 - 1928 (Slovenci v desetletju 1918 – 1928) Brecelj contributed a detailed report titled Stories of Our Health Care and Welfare (Zgodbe našega zdravstva in skrbstva). However, the number of Brecelj's articles in The Medical Column of the daily Slovenec (Slovenec) is hard to record and estimate.
During the Second World War Brecelj sympathized with the Slovene National Liberation Front. On 17 July 1943 the Executive Committee of the Liberation Front (IOOF) resolved to offer Brecelj, Finžgar, Oton Župančič and engineer Sernec a seat in the committee. After the appointment with the executive committee on 15 August Brecelj decided not to accept the offer because of various doubts. Soon afterwards Brecelj died.
Brecelj once wrote in the reminiscence titled My Confession (Samoizpoved): “The parole of our great teacher Janez Evangelist Krek is: Those who were called and those who weren’t, give what you have to the nation, give back what you received from the nation as a loan and not as a gift”, and these words exactly describe Brecelj's work as well as his character.
On the initiative of the Former Students of Gorizia Association was in the village of Žapuže near Ajdovščina unveiled a memorial in memory of Anton Brecelj.
Anton Brecelj was born on 9 June 1875 in the village of Žapuže near the village of Šturje. His father was Franc Brecelj, a tailor and an owner of a small property and his mother was Terezija Slejko. He attended primary school in Šturje, grammar school in Ljubljana and in 1895 he enrolled for the study of medicine and was awarded a doctorate in 1901. At first he worked as an assistant at a clinic in Graz, but in 1903 he returned to Gorizia, where he worked as a private doctor and later as the head of the hospital of the Brothers of Mercy. Moreover, he worked in Gorizia between the First World War, helping the wounded battling on the Isonzo Front, but only until August 1916, when the Italians occupied the territory. Brecelj did not return to Gorizia until the defeated Italian troops left the front. After the overthrow he was awarded a commissioner for health in the National Government of Slovenia. However, on 4 November 1918 in Ljubljana he publicly refused the title, for he wanted to stay and continue to work in Gorizia.
In 1920 he was forced to move to Ljubljana, where he worked as the head of the disabled ward at the Commission for Social Welfare till 1922, when he decided to resign from the civil service. Afterwards he worked as a paediatrician and a doctor for internal organs in a private hospital till his death on 22 September 1943.
While attending grammar school Brecelj was very fond of a certain movement that took rise with the first Catholic gathering in Ljubljana. He stated that he was writing for the supplement for students of Mahnič's newspaper, called the Roman Catholic (Rimski katolik), although articles in this supplement were not signed by the authors. It is presumed that the article titled How to Prove Spirituality and Immortality of the Human Soul? (Kako se dokaže duhovnost in neumrljivost človeške duše?, published in the Roman Catholic V, 1893, supplement for students, pgs. 42 – 45), signed by Sixgrader, is actually Brecelj's writing as he was that year attending the sixth grade. Brecelj himself made several statements about being engaged with philosophy. He admired Mahnič and his work, but he openly refused his critic of Gregorčič's poems, once while lecturing as an eightgrader in Ljubljana and once in a discussion with him as a theologian. Later on, Brecelj wrote several personal reminiscences about Gregorčič (The Nightingale of Gorizia, 1937, pgs. 13 – 18) and he opposed Tuma when tarnishing Gregorčič’s name and reputation (The Poet Simon Gregorčič in.Tuma's Eyes). Being a student of medicine he made acquaintance with Janez Evangelist Krek and was his close friend till his death.
Brecelj was present also in the students’ public life. At first he was a member of the Triglav Academic Association, but only until 1898, when he decided to withdraw from the association and together with his colleagues founded the Naprej Catholic Educational Association for the Slovene workers and students in Graz. But as early as in spring 1901, the liberal academics have taken over the association and ostracized the clerical workers and students. As a response, Catholic academics have on 6 June 1901 founded their own association called Zarja. At the gathering of the Slovene Catholic students in 1898 Brecelj spoke of the organization and of the united Slovene nation. He said: »I am sure that Catholicism is the greatest joy of our nation«, (A. Ušeničnik, Po shodu slovenskih visokošolcev. KO 1898. Pgs. 345 – 353). At the second gathering of the Catholic academics on 13 September 1898 Brecelj lectured on alcoholism in regards to the social conditions (A. Učeničnik, Drugi sestanek krščansko mislečega akademiškega dijaštva. KO 1899. Pgs. 345 – 379).
Brecelj also took part in publishing the Catholic students' newspaper called Zora, where he used a pseudonym Bogdan Kazek. In 1898 he contributed several detailed articles titled This and That (To in ono) to the newspaper, in which he wrote about »the New Stream« (he was referring to the New Stream in literature and not to the later political stream in the Gorizia region), about the culture and the Catholicism. Next year he published two articles titled Our Future (Naša Bodočnost) and A Letter about Love Between a Man and a Woman (Pismo o ljubezni med moškim in žensko). At the same time Brecelj had been also writing for the magazine Catholic Review (Katoliški obzornik) and between 1897 and 1899 he published 180 pages long scientific-critical disquisition on Darwinian theory of evolution titled Darwinism (Darvinizem) written as a discussion between the doctor Vinko and the professor Božidar. In 1900 Brecelj published a medical-sociological disquisition on tuberculosis, titled Tuberculosis (Jetika, pgs. 319 – 330) and in 1901 he published an article titled Faith and Morals – the Legacy of the Mankind (Vera in nravnost – pradediščina človeštva) in the column Apologetic Thoughts (Apologetične misli, pgs. 242 – 257). Besides all these, Brecelj contributed to the Catholic Review also some other short notices. In this magazine Brecelj signed his name only with his abbreviations A. B. and after he took the doctor's degree Brecelj stopped publishing and writing.
Being a Krek's student, Brecelj participated in social, educational and national-political activities in Gorizia. On 11 March 1906 he spoke of workers' apartments at the collective general gathering of the Slovene Catholic Workers' Association and of the Skalnica Women's Association. He assured that bad living conditions are the reason for illnesses and diseases that spread among workers and demanded to establish a Building Association in Gorizia, which would have provided healthy apartments for the workers (Newspaper of the Littoral – Primorski list, 22 March 1906). In the next issue of the Newspaper of the Littoral, issued on 29 March 1906, Brecelj published his first appeal to found a building association called My Own Home, which later on built quite a few simple single-family houses with a garden for workers in Livada, in the suburbs of the town of Gorizia.
Brecelj was also engaged in teaching as he quite often lectured in the country. In 1907 the Catholic Socialist Union, an union of teaching associations, was established in Gorizia. Brecelj was appointed a chairman of the union and eventually public work drew him into politics. In that time the politics in Gorizia region split. The then leader Anton Gregorčič, who accomplished a lot in educational and economical sphere, was too commanding and conservative and by all means not the man of principles. A group of younger educated and uneducated people as well as priests was slowly forming an opposition against Anton Gregorčič and eventually got the name The New Stream.
The Catholic Printing Association was founded in 1908 on the initiative of J. Srebrnič. This association enabled publishing of the weekly newspaper Novi čas (The New Time), which was being issued from 29 December 1909 till 24 July 1915 i.e. two months after the battling on the Isonzo Front started. Moreover, this was at that time the only newspaper in Gorizia. Disagreement between A. Gregorčič and The New Stream was at the elections to the provincial assembly in July 1913 a crucial element, which contributed to the ultimate split between them. Brecelj also stood as a candidate at these elections but was unfortunately not elected. In the last year of the First World War Brecelj helped the members of The New Stream to renew and reestablish the Union and other economic associations and clubs. In September 1918 a weekly newspaper the Goriška straža (the Gorizia Guard) was established and the first issue was published on 19 September.
Brecelj contributed a lot also to the founding of the National Council for the Gorizia Region.
In 1918 Brecelj issued his first book, titled Fighting Tuberculosis (Jetiki boj), which was published in Ljubljana. In the preface of the book, which was written in Ajdovščina, Brecelj wrote that he had already been writting and lecturing in the Gorizia region on tuberculosis as a matter of social environment. On 24 May 1917 a gathering of mayors, priests and teachers took place in Vipava, where they amongst other discussed also about the government's plan for founding a hospital for the sick suffering from lung diseases. Brecelj reported about this common disease and was ordered to write a book on tuberculosis in easy language. Brecelj mentioned in his book that while he was still a student, Janez Evangelist Krek advised him on hygiene and health care, which are two basic elements »for the financial and spiritual growth of the poor people« (pg. 47).
After the war Brecelj moved to Ljubljana, where he started to write for the Mladika newspaper that has in 1923 moved its headquarters from Gorizia to Prevalje. Between 1923 and 1925 he published nine short scientific papers in easy language in the Mladika newspaper and in 1938 he published the tenth one. In 1925 at the death of the senior politician Anton Gregorčič from Gorizia, Brecelj wrote some nice lines in his reminiscence, titled In memory of Dr Anton Gregorčič (V spomin dr. Antonu Gregorčiču), which was published in the Mladika newspaper (pgs. 350 – 351). Between 1931 and 1936 he published in the same newspaper approximately 40 long articles about his experience in medical treatment with lots of autobiographical elements in them. Some of them were also published in 1938 in the book titled Doctor's Memories (Zdravnikovi spomini). Moreover, in 1926 Brecelj published a book titled General Biology (Splošno živeljenjeslovje ali biologija) at the publishing house Družba Sv. Mohorja from Prevalje, in which he wrote about the body, spirit, inheritance, diseases, ageing, dying and immortality all from the Catholic point of view. In the preface to this book, which was written on Candlemas Day in 1925, Brecelj said that years before the war Krek had been persuading him to start writing a book about the human. The fourth and also his last book is titled Sexual Matters - General Survey (Spolne zadeve v preglednih obrisih) and was published in 1938 by the publishing house Družba sv. Mohorja in Celje. The preface of this book was written on Angel Sunday, on the first Sunday in September, in 1937. In the preface Brecelj says: »I started to write this book 30 years ago on the initiative of my dear friend and teacher, Janez Evangelist Krek. I still keep my manuscript of the first chapter, where I lost my inspiration and my writing stopped«. This book is a modernly composed piece of writing and shows a lot of knowledge and understanding of this eternal question.
After the First World War he started writing for the magazine Čas (Time) and his first article was a review of a book Sexually Transmitted Diseases (Spolne bolezni) by Josip Demšar, which Brecelj wrote in 1920.
For every year between 1921 and 1925 Brecelj wrote detailed social-scientific reports on the nation's health or better on medical condition in Slovenia, based on official and exact statistical and other data. Later on, he was working on the sex question, related to the intelligence quotient. In 1923 he published an article titled Health Matters in Julian March (Zdravstvene zadeve v Julijski krajini).
Brecelj spoke also at the 5th Catholic gathering in Ljubljana. His speech was titled About Family and the Women Question. In the circular letter Casta occonnubia Brecelj published his reflection on health in the article, titled Family and Health (Družina in zdravje), where he analysed the stigmatization, regarding the renowned Tereza Neumann from Konnersreuth, judged the option of sterility and reported on the Russian experience of abortion. He lectured on religion and health care as an introduction to pastoral medicine and wrote about forced abortions, art of medicine, health and sickness, sex education and compared health care in the past and now.
In the next volume Brecelj published only a couple of reviews of two medical books, as he decided not to write for the magazine Čas anymore. Brecelj wrote another article, which does not concern health or social matters but politics. The article is titled Dr. Anton Gregorčič and the Party (Dr. Anton Gregorčič in stranka) and was published also in the magazine Čas in 1924/25. In this article Brecelj refers to Gregorčič as the greatest contributor in the field of culture in the Gorizia region in the last 30 years and gives some realistic reasons, which split Gregorčič and The New Stream.
For the special collection of discussions Slovenians Between 1918 - 1928 (Slovenci v desetletju 1918 – 1928) Brecelj contributed a detailed report titled Stories of Our Health Care and Welfare (Zgodbe našega zdravstva in skrbstva). However, the number of Brecelj's articles in The Medical Column of the daily Slovenec (Slovenec) is hard to record and estimate.
During the Second World War Brecelj sympathized with the Slovene National Liberation Front. On 17 July 1943 the Executive Committee of the Liberation Front (IOOF) resolved to offer Brecelj, Finžgar, Oton Župančič and engineer Sernec a seat in the committee. After the appointment with the executive committee on 15 August Brecelj decided not to accept the offer because of various doubts. Soon afterwards Brecelj died.
Brecelj once wrote in the reminiscence titled My Confession (Samoizpoved): “The parole of our great teacher Janez Evangelist Krek is: Those who were called and those who weren’t, give what you have to the nation, give back what you received from the nation as a loan and not as a gift”, and these words exactly describe Brecelj's work as well as his character.
On the initiative of the Former Students of Gorizia Association was in the village of Žapuže near Ajdovščina unveiled a memorial in memory of Anton Brecelj.