Born: 12 October 1930, Slovenia
Died: 29 December 2021
Country most active: Slovenia
Also known as: Milica Brezigar
Slovenian historian Milica Kacin Wohinz is most known for her foundational work on the history of the forced assimilation of Italy’s Slovene minority in Italy that took place from 1918 to 1943. Born in the Slovene Littoral, which was annexed by Italy following World War I, the country’s Fascist government had her expelled from school at age 12 as punishment for her father’s resistance to Italianization. She joined the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People during World War II.
Following World War II, the Slovene Littoral became part of Yugoslavia in 1947, and Wohinz returned to her studies, attending Slovene-language high schools in Postojna and Ljubljana. She enrolled at the University of Ljubljana in 1952, studying history and going on to earn her PhD in 1970. Beginning in 1959, she worked at the Institute of Contemporary History in Ljubljana, leading the organization from 1979 to 1983.
Selected publications
In Slovene
1974 Slovenci v zamejstvu: pregled zgodovine 1918–1945 (Slovenes beyond the Borders: A Historical Overview), co-authored with Tone Ferenc. Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije.
1977 Narodnoobrambno gibanje primorskih Slovencev, 1921–1928 (The Ethnic Identity Movement of the Slovenes in the Littoral Region between 1921 and 1928). Koper: Lipa.
1990 Prvi antifašizem v Evropi. Primorska 1925–1935 (The First Anti-Fascism in Europe. The Slovenian Littoral between 1925 and 1935). Koper: Lipa.
2000 Zgodovina Slovencev v Italiji 1866–2000 (The History of Slovenes in Italy 1866–2000). Ljubljana: Nova revija. ISBN 9616352113
2008 Primorski upor fašizmu: 1920–1941 (The Slovene Resistance against Fascism, 1920–1941), co-authored with Marta Verginella. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica.
In Italian
1998 Storia degli sloveni in Italia: 1866–1998 (History of the Slovenes in Italy, 1866–1998), co-authored with Jože Pirjevec. Venice: Marsilio.
2004 Vivere al confine: sloveni e italiani negli anni 1918–1941 (Living on the Border: Slovenes and Italians between the Years 1918 and 1941). Gorizia: Goriška Mohorjeva družba.