The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (by short SASA), founded in 1938, is the supreme national institution of sciences and arts. It associates scientists and artists, elected its members for their outstanding achievements in the field of sciences and arts.

SASA cultivates, encourages and promote sciences and arts, through its activities, contributes to the development of scientific thought and creativity in the arts, particularly by:

• addressing basic issues of sciences and arts;

• participating in establishing the policies of research activities and artistic creation;

• giving appraisals, proposals and opinions on the position, development and promotion of sciences and arts, and on the organization of research activities and artistic creation;

• organizing research work, also in cooperation with universities and other research institutions, particularly in the fields crucial for raising awareness of and gaining insight into the natural and cultural heritage of the Slovenian nation and for the development of its language and culture, and

• developing international cooperation in the field of sciences and arts.

History

The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts has functioned uninterruptedly since 12 November 1938, when the original group of Academy Members met at their first session. Yet, the Academy is rooted in the distant past. More than three-hundred years ago, precisely in 1693, the predecessor of the present-day Academy, the Academia Operosorum was founded in Ljubljana; it was founded in the same century as the Académie française, the Royal Society in London, the Leopoldina i. e. Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher in Schweinfurt. At the time, the Ljubljana society was formed by some of the most distinguished Carniolan religious and secular intellectuals, noblemen and townsmen. Twenty-three members, the majority were jurists, but also theologians and physicians. Initially, they worked behind closed doors and only later their activity became public. Almost by coincidence Janez Krstnik Prešeren a doctor of theology and provost of the Ljubljana episcopate and an occasional versifier, originally from Lesce in Upper Carniola, from the land of France Prešeren became their first president,. But it was no coincidence that the Academy of the Operosi gave the impulse that paved the way for baroque art in Carniola and other Slovenian lands. Ljubljana became the focus of Slovenian Baroque and baroque art, although it was the invention of the Italian spirit, it soon established itself, as an expression of our creative will. The Latin society of operosi came into being also thanks to the preceding development of historical, topographic and legal sciences in Carniola. In 1701, the Operosi launched the initiative for the foundation of the first public library, today’s theological seminary. Also at their initiative, at the end of that year, the Academia philharmonicorum Labacensium presented itself to the public. It was the first association of musicians and music lovers in our lands, comprising noblemen and representatives of the highest strata of bourgeoisie.

The Academia operosorum discontinued its activities approximately in 1725 and more than half a century had to pass before the society of the industrious men i. e. Operosi, was renewed, albeit  under completely different historical circumstances. The initiative came from the enlightened Blaž Kumerdej, a polymath, lawyer, theologian and philosopher, a rationalist, who devoted his life to Slovenian philology, orthography and grammar and to the translation of the Holy Scriptures. The Academy, renewed in 1779, was oriented towards enlightenment, with an emphasis on critical rationalism, but as far as the content of its activity was concerned, it was already Slovenian, even though the debating language was German and partly Latin. The following Slovenian national revivalists, among others, were also active in its ranks: Marko Pohlin, Jurij Japelj and Anton Tomaž Linhart. Among scientific topics, they favoured local Slovenian history and language, the foundations of which had already been laid down by Trubar, Dalmatin and Krelj in the 16th century. However, the Operosi also devoted their attention to other languages, poetry, rhetoric, philosophy, medicine and law. One might speculate that the brief existence of the Academy was not so much a consequence of diverse scientific and conceptual divergences or national differences among its members, but rather that the Academy might have been dissolved by the authorities. Due to this reason, Linhart and many other members had to pursue their scientific and artistic endeavours for a number of decades outside the Academy. Some of them did so in the Zois’ national revivalists circle.

After the short life of the second Academy of the Operosi, from the end of the 18th century and for a considerably lengthy period, the Slovenians did not have their own highest institution of sciences and arts, even though the idea of it was never completely abandoned. Indeed, it was often reiterated in different ways; as a rule, it was discussed during the turning points in Slovenian national history, in the times of Napoleon’s Illyria, in 1848 and later; most frequently in conjunction with demands for a Slovenian university. Serious endeavours for a Slovenian national academy can be traced back to the second half of the 19th century, with the founding of Slovenska matica (Slovene Society) and of other professional societies, mainly humanistic ones. But fact remains that Slovenia did not have an academy up to the eve of World War II. During all this time, the Slovenian academy lived as an idea, which was implemented only in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The merit for its foundation is to be attributed mainly to Slovenian scientists and artists headed by Fran Ramovš. They persevered in spite of many obstacles, and finally succeeded in their endeavours. In 1919, after the University of Ljubljana was founded, the Scientific Society for Humanities, assisted by other institutions, first and foremost the Slovenska matica, the National Gallery and the Society of Jurists, began with preparations for the founding of the academy. Their efforts finally came to fruition in 1938. They were not hindered only by the centralist policy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but also by the passive attitude of the academies of sciences in Zagreb and Belgrade vis-à-vis Slovenian endeavours. Prior to the constituent assembly of the Academy in 1938 the first eighteen ordinary members were nominated. On the 4th of January the following year, by Royal Appointment, its first president, Rajko Nahtigal, was nominated. Nahtigal, an expert in Slavic languages and linguist, held the presidency until 1942.

It was a fortunate circumstance that the Academy continued with its activities during World War II, otherwise the continuity of the young institution would have been disrupted at the very beginning. Under the presidency of Milan Vidmar (1942 to 1945), an expert in electrical engineering, it was primarily promoting its publishing activity. In line with the national sentiment of the time, in a dignified manner, it refrained from any solemn events and did not elect any new members.

Naturally, the post-war social and political upheavals did not leave the Academy untouched; indeed, they impacted its membership and its internal structure profoundly. Immediately after the war, four of its members were requested to leave the institution, amongst them three founding members, two were expelled by the revolutionary authorities, one by the Academy, while the fourth was forced to submit his resignation. On the other hand, under the presidency of France Kidrič (1945 to 1950) a literary historian, and for a short period under the linguist Fran Ramovš (1950 to 1952), the institution was characterized by structural expansion and the enlargement of Academy ranks. In 1948, it was renamed from the Academy to the Slovenian Academy, but the first change of its name occurred already during the war. From the original four sections, the Academy was further expanded to five and later six sections, with new institutes and similar bodies also founded. The Academy composed of institutes was initially modelled after the Soviet academy, but it also reflected Slovenian requirements. Yet, quite soon this organizational set-up of the Academy, particularly from 1955 to 1958, began to change, with the separation of large technical institutes, which became independent – first the Institute of Physics »Jožef Stefan«, followed by the Institute of Chemistry »Boris Kidrič« and the Institute of Electric Power Industry and finally the Institute of Turbine Engines. The Academy retained the institutes involved in the humanities, social sciences and partly, natural sciences. Another characteristic of the post-war period was the high degree of dependence of the Academy on the state and its official Marxist ideology. On the basis of the laws passed in 1948 and 1949, the autonomy of the Academy was not merely limited - the Slovenian assembly abolished it. Only the 1980 Act on the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts was more liberal, although the state at the time did not renounce its influence in the selection of Academy membership. Of course, practice had evolved and began transcending the law, so that at the end of the nineteen-eighties it was already more effective than the law. The third and most significant characteristic of the post-war period was successful research activity carried out in the Academy’s institutes. This also applies to the period under the presidency of Josip Vidmar (1952 to 1976), Slovenia’s leading literary critic.

The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts witnessed great progress, not to say flourishing of almost all scientific disciplines. It is indisputable that some of the most significant and serious research for two fundamental publications concerning Slovenian national identity i.e. The Dictionary of  Standard Slovenian Language and the Slovenian Biographical Lexicon was completed during the post World War II period. The Academy, under the direction of President Janez Milčinski (1976 to 1992), an expert in forensic medicine, was aware of just how important the research of national identity in all its manifestations – cultural, social, political and economic was. During his tenure, in 1980, the Academy defined a long-term, or rather permanent research programme: Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Slovenian Nation. In the course of the following year, the institutes of humanities, social sciences and natural sciences became independent and jointly formed the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Research of Slovenian national past and present identity, in cooperation with the Academy is the Centre’s key role. The SASA library, third largest in Slovenia, significantly aids these research activities.

From the time it was founded to the present day, the Academy has lived through diverse forms of rule and political systems, and has gone through different stages of development. The most positive and radical turning point in its short life, however, was in 1991, when Slovenia became a free and independent state. The first Academy presidency in the newly founded state, presided over by the literary historian France Bernik (1992 to 2002), was faced with the task of making the Slovenian Academy comparable to other European academies of sciences and arts. Today, the Academy operates within a democratic political system and under conditions of a free scientific and cultural policy. It is respected by the state and enjoys a reputation among the general public. The 1994 law grants it autonomy and independent professional activity. In this spirit, in 1996, the Academy rehabilitated three of the four members expelled after World War II and reinstituted their honorary rights. The new law primarily enables the Academy to dedicate itself fully to its principal mission: to promote and stimulate sciences and arts. The professional plurality and diversity of worldviews among its members is joined precisely by their belonging to the world of sciences and arts. This belonging reflects the awareness uniting different artistic and scientific interests, individual aspirations, the institution and involved individuals.

In recent times, despite relatively constricting finances, The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts succeeded in preserving its publishing activity at past levels or, to even exceed them. In the last couple of years, the Academy succeeded in asserting its position through the organization of symposia and other scientific gatherings. In independent Slovenia, the Academy organized a significant number of prominent national and international scientific meetings, colloquia and round tables, more than in the previous decades, covering practically the entire arts and sciences spectrum, including the humanities, as well as the natural sciences, technical sciences and biomedicine.

After Slovenia’s independence, the Academy became more open for international cooperation; in fact many of its obligations arise from this. Presently, the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts has agreements of cooperation with almost thirty academies throughout Europe and the world. It is also a member of some important international scientific bodies: the Association of All European Academies (ALLEA), the International Union of Academies, the European Science Foundation, the Inter-Academy Panel on International Issues and the Network of Mediterranean Academies.

Dynamic conference activities and international cooperation remain areas of further development and key interest to subsequent Academy Presidencies. In this sense Slovenia’s EU membership confirms the correctness of the fundamental orientation of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Indeed, this orientation is strengthening both components of Slovenian creativity – on one hand, it  strengthes national identity in its different manifestations, and on the other, it reinforces the European character of the spirit pervading Slovenian research and scientific endeavours.

Academician Prof. Dr. France Bernik, Honorary Member of SASA