COMMENTS - ODMEVI
KAREL DEžMAN IS NOT FORGOTTEN
when writing about Karel Dežman in the journal Acta carsologica 35/1, Stanislav Južnič1 noted that Dežmans work was almost forgotten, even though he had been one of the leading nature historians of his time. In the ab-stract, Južnič underlined:
»His scientifc works are not very well known be-cause he did not follow the political line of the ofcial Slovenian national representatives.«
In the summary, on the other hand, the author wrote:
»with the use of published works and manuscripts we can thus present, for the frst time in greater detail, Dežmans great knowledge that extended even into math-ematical and astronomical sciences.«
Karel Dežman, however, is and has not been forgotten, considering that much has been written about him in the last decade and that particularly his botanical activi-ties have been covered relatively well.
Tis is what was written about Dežmans link with the botanist Valentin Plemel, his friend and grammar school classmate, by Nada Praprotnik2 who presented his botanical activities at the symposium Flora of Slovenia 20003 and eventually published her supplemented and extended paper in the journal Argo4. About his work car-ried out at Ljubljansko barje, she wrote an article published in Narava Slovenije5.
Karel Dežman worked during the botanical qui-etude in the period between Franc Hladnik and Alfonz Paulin. As a botanist, he began to engage in new spheres and soon surpassed, especially with his phytogeographi-cal contributions, till then mostly foristic orientation of our nature scientists. He wrote much about the fora of Ljubljansko barje, was the frst to call attention to the newly introduced (adventive) species in our country and listed the lowest lying localities of the Alpine fora in Carniola. His herbarium collection is kept by the Slo-
1 Južnič, S., 2006: Karst research in the 19th century – Karel Dežman’s (1821-1889) work. – Acta carsologica 35/1, pp.139-148, Ljubljana.
2 Praprotnik, N., 1992: Botanik Valentin Plemel in njegov her-barij. – Scopolia 27, pp. 1-42. Ljubljana.
3 Praprotnik, N., 2000: Botanično delovanje Karla Dežmana. – Zbornik izvlečkov referatov simpozija Flora Slovenije 2000, p. 28, Ljubljana.
4 Praprotnik, N., 2001: Karel Dežman in njegovo botanično delovanje. – Argo 44/2, pp. 14-20, Ljubljana.
5 Praprotnik, N., 2001: Iz zgodovine botaničnih raziskav Ljubljanskega barja: Karel Dežman (1821-1889). – In: Narava Slovenije, Ljubljansko barje in Iška (Ed.: A. Gogala), pp. 27-28, Ljubljana.
vene Museum of Natural History At the beginning of his professional career, Dežman was engaged largely in botanical research, and it is his very botanical work that is presented fairly comprehensively and suitably evaluated.
In his life, Dežman was highly versatile, and as he was a leading personality in several spheres, it is difcult to present him in full. with his scientifc criticalness he had a strong and favourable efect on domestic professional public and contributed a great deal primarily to the academic development of the Museum, for which he worked from 1852 till his death in 1889. Tanks to him, a new building was erected in 1888 for the Carniolan Pro-vincial Museum, which is still home to two national insti-tutions: the Slovene Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of Slovenia. Dežmans museal work has never been suppressed, as he is correctly cited in all historical surveys. It is true, however, that his museal merits have no doubt been insufciently underlined!
As a member of the Ljubljana Street Naming Com-mittee, Prof Dr Tone wraber proposed (during his mandate from 1991 to1995) one of the streets (perhaps on the edge of Ljubljansko barje) to be named afer Dežman and thus »to confrm the return of a lost son at the time when Slovenia acquired its independence«. Unfortunately, his endeavours proved unsuccessful.
Karel Dežman plays a discernible role also in the work by Dragan Matić6 as »a herald of the Germans in Carniola« from 1861 onwards.
In Južničs article, the portrait of Karl Dežman was published as well (with the paintings basic details miss-ing). It was made by Filip Fröhlich around 1865 and is kept by the National Museum of Slovenia.
At the end, let us quote the following conciliatory words published by Bleiweiss Novice7 afer Dežmans death:
»If we are now to make a fnal estimate of De-schmanns work, it is difcult to judge whether his ban-tering made more harm than good for the mental development of the Slovenian nation. Deschmanns merits for the provincial museum have been acknowledged both by his followers and adversaries, and this is why we, too, are calling out at his grave: »Let him rest in peace!«
Nada Praprotnik
6 Matič, D., 2002: Nemci v Ljubljani 1861-1918. Ljubljana.
7 Novice, 1889, p. 87. Ljubljana.
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