SIGNIFICANT SLOVENE BIOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTIONS ON THE MISSIONARY AND EMIGRANT PRIEST FRANC PIRC

ABSTRACT
The Slovene electronic bibliographical database COBISS, otherwise quite useful and preciuos as a starting point to various researches, yet rather incomplete mainly in regard of older publications, cites approximately 20 bibliographical units on the Slovene priest, promoter of fruit growing, missionary and emigrant priest in the U.S.A. Franc Pirc (1785–1880). The author of his newest biography Franc Pirc (1785-1880), fruit grower in Carniola and missionary in America from 2003, Marjan Drnovšek, PhD, cites in the chapter on literature as many as 40 bibliographical units of which twelve directly relate to Franc Pirc. The purpose of the article is not to give a complete survey on the up to the present bibliography of Franc Pirc but a commented presentation of most significant Slovene biographical publications on him, particularly the works of Florentin Hrovat Franc Pirec oče umne sadjereje na Kranjskem in apostolski misijonar med Indijani v severni Ameriki from 1887, Dr. Franc Ks. Lukman in the Slovene biographic lexicon from 1949, Ivan Zika Franc Pirc oče umne sadjereje na Kranjskem in oče mesta St. Cloud v Ameriki from 1965, and the already mentioned book by Marjan Drnovšek. Presented are some other works as well. In his contribution the author presents and compares the evaluating of Pirc’s life and work and the key data from individual works, particularly those that are with different authors not identical, especially the place of Pirc’s birth and the date of his death.

Andrej Vovko, doctor of historical sciences, senior lecturer for modern and contemporary history at the Pedagogical Faculty in Maribor, research advisor of the Inštitut za biografiko in bibliografijo of the ZRC SAZU.