UDK 929Stanonik J.
JANEZ STANONIK - NONOGENARIAN
On January 2, 2012, Professor Janez Stanonik, Ph.D, regular member of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU), celebrated his ninetieth birthday. He is still very active and has recently written two studies on the names of three Slovene rivers, Mislinja, Hudinja and Voglajna. These rivers run in the Štajerska region (Styria) in Slovenia. In this connection I wish to make two observations, first, the rivers create a typical landscape near the town of Celje, where Janez spent his youth, and secondly, they bring back his initial scholarly interest, which is linked with his etymological, historical and linguistic research. In these studies he does not limit his investigation only to language problems, but interprets the names of these rivers within broader historical, social and religious aspects, namely, with the old Slavic settlement of this region and with its social significance.
Stanonik's name is, of course, most closely connected with the scholarly review Acta Neophilologica, which he founded in 1968, and in which his followers try to keep its original orientation including the initial professional standards. We try to publish AN regularly, although the times are not always propitious for such endeavours.
Twelve years ago I presented an account of Stanonik's pedagogical and scholarly achievements ("Thirty-two years of Acta Neophilologica - with gratitude to its founder and editor Professor Janez Stanonik", 33,1-2 (2000): 3-5), in which I have also mentioned his various duties: he was not only professor of English and American literature but also the Head of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the Faculty of Arts, the dean of the Faculty of Arts, as well as a member of various professional bodies set up by the University of Ljubljana.
Janez Stanonik has had, no doubt, a very rich professional life. However, he is also very pleased that at his present age he has not lost his interest in the field in which he was actively engaged in the past and to which he contributed several books and a number of scholarly studies. Let me therefore wish him on behalf of his former students, colleagues and friends, and on my own behalf, many more healthy and fruitful years.
Ljubljana, October 2012
Mirko Jurak