Obituary of Aleš DEBELJAK, Visiting Professor at the Natolin campus

It is with great sadness that the Natolin campus of the College of Europe learned about the tragic death of the eminent Slovenian poet, essayist and cultural critic Prof. Aleš DEBELJAK, aged 54, on Thursday 28 January 2016. For a number of years he was Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Natolin campus.

                           

Professor Aleš DEBELJAK graduated in comparative literature from the University of Ljubljana and received his Ph.D. in Social Thought from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, New York. During his career he was a Robert Bosch Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna, a Senior Fulbright Fellow at the University of California-Berkeley, a Research Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study-Collegium Budapest, a Writing Fellow at Civitella Ranieri Center, a Writing Fellow of Bogliasco Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities, and Roberta Buffett Professor of International Studies at Northwestern University, Chicago. For many years he taught cultural studies at the University of Ljubljana.

                             

Professor DEBELJAK published 14 books of cultural criticism and 9 books of poems in his native Slovenian. He won several awards, including the Readers’ Choice Award for the best essay of the decade in the magazine World Literature Today, the Slovenian National Book Award, the Miriam Lindberg Poetry for Peace Prize (Tel Aviv) and the Chiqyu Poetry Prize (Tokio), and was named Ambassador of Science of the Republic of Slovenia. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. As an essayist Professor DEBELJAK is considered one of the pioneers of Slovenian post-modernism.

                  

"Having known Professor Aleš DEBELJAK as his student both in our native Slovenia and at the College of Europe, I know he was much more than a memorable professor. He was one of those rare people who transmitted his critical wit, poetic sensibility and his incredible passion for life to everyone around him. His literary and intellectual work, as well as his casually struck up conversations on anything from contemporary politics to dissident Balkan writers, are still the best sources of inspiration for me and—I am sure—many others who listened to him with awe and respect. Dear Aleš, you will be greatly missed." - Ms Mirna BRATOŽ, Maria Skłodowska-Curie Promotion (2011-2012), Natolin campus.