| Abstract: | The centenary of the birth of art historian and conservator Nace Šumi (1924–2024),
professor emeritus, was a great challenge for an in-depth reflection on the meaning
of this great and distinguished personality. To that end, on 24 May 2024, the Faculty
of Arts of the University of Ljubljana hosted a symposium with several lectures and
a photo exhibition. We, as all lecturers at the symposium, are aware that his followers
are influenced by the professor’s charisma and are therefore subjective. Everyone
remembers our teacher a little differently. We judge him mainly by our contacts, lectures,
books, articles, editorial guidelines and other achievements. Why did he tirelessly
search for the intricacies and originality of Slovenian art all his life?
As art historians, in order to better understand the man and the scientist, we need
to go back and reveal more precisely Šumi’s childhood and adolescence in Kranj, and
especially the time until his graduation (in the year 1945), a period that significantly
shapes every young person. The content of his high school studies and the important
influence of individual lecturers, especially artists such as Franc Košir or Elda Piščanec,
were summarized in the archives to better present the young years.
Be introductory explanation in Professor Šumi’s book Pogledi is quite clear: “The
youth of the generation to which I belong was marked by a serious war and the initial
post-war years.” The period of World War II and its influence on Professor Šumi therefore
deserves at least additional attention. Be first important place was the Begunje
prison. Even more important was the period during which he survived three years at
the Dachau concentration camp. The personal documents from this camp, which were
saved by the Šumi family and after them by Peter Krečič. We can find some facts written
directly or between the lines in 59 censored letters and dozens of other documents.
That which is not documented in these letters can be glimpsed or understood in the
drawings of Slovenian architects (Vlasto Kopač stands out among the authors) and
painters, also interned in the same camp (Zoran Mušič, France Uršič, Bruno Vavpotič,
Bogdan Borčić, and others). Surviving Dachau was a real test and formed the foundation
of later thinking, extraordinary energy, life optimism, and his conscientiously responsible
way of working as an art historian, conservator, and my mentor.
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