The »Friends of the Humanist Gymnasium« Society: A Buttress of the Classical and Humanist Education in the Interwar Period

Abstract

Ever since its foundation in 1920, the »Friends of the Humanist Gymnasium « Society strove, as a supporter of classical and humanist education, to preserve full-time instruction in both classical languages in the school curriculum. Its members included teachers of Latin and Ancient Greek, as well as supporters of the classical gymnasium as an elite institution disseminating classical education in the finest sense of the word. The Society (which was chronically beset by financial difficulties) published a number of official letters informing its members about new initiatives and developments in the classical studies. The members sought to preserve the place of the humanities in the school system, since these were increasingly jeopardised by the sciences and technical subjects favoured by the Yugoslav government. The Society held annual general meetings, which included the elections of the executive board, collaborated with university professors, helped to organise a number of events, and assisted with the publication of Slovene textbooks for the classical languages. Its most ambitious project was the publication of the first volume of the Wiesthaler dictionary in 1936. The outbreak of World War II marked its demise, but it was succeeded in 1975 by the Slovene Society for Ancient and Humanist Studies.