Acta argiculturae Slovenica, 111 – 3, december 2018, 737–739 Peter DOVČ In Memoriam - Prof. dr. Julija Smole (1930–2018) V jeseni, ko je sadjar poplačan za ves trud z obilico plo- dov raznolikih oblik in barv, nas je 27. septembra 2018, v 89. letu starosti zapustila naša cenjena pedagoginja, spoštovana sodelavka in kolegica profesorica dr. Julije Smole. Prof. dr. Julija Smole se je rodila 25. aprila 1930 v Ljubljani. Osnovno šolo je obiskovala v Šmarju pri Ljubl- jani (1937-1942), gimnazijo pa v Ljubljani. Leta 1949 se je vpisala na tedanjo Agronomsko in gozdarsko fakulteto, kjer je junija 1955 diplomirala. 1. avgusta 1955 se je zaposlila v Sadni drevesnici in vrtnariji v Kamniku. Tu je ob nastaja- jočih nasadih uspešno opravila prakso in se v štirih letih usposobila za vodenje pridelave ter leta 1959 postala direk- tor obrata. Leta 1961 je bila izvoljena na razpisano mesto asistenta na Katedri za sadjarstvo Biotehniške fakultete. S tem imenovanjem se je začela njena uspešna, hitra akadem- ska kariera ter pot med vodilne univerzitetne učitelje na fa- kulteti in med vrhunske strokovnjake v pomoloških vedah, v teoriji in praksi. Prevzela je naloge iz teme proučevanja in selekcije češ- enj in marelic v goriškem in istrskem sadnem okolišu. Njeni dosežki so zbrani v letnih poročilih in zbirkah Pomološke raziskave slovenskega ozemlja ter v veliko objavljenih raz- pravah v domačih in tujih publikacijah. Leta 1971 je prido- bila akademski naziv magistra, 1973 pa je bila promovira- na za doktorico agronomskih znanosti. Njeno magistrsko delo, disertacija in druge razprave predstavljajo znanstvene temelje sodobnega izbora češenj in višenj za goriški sadni okoliš ter priporočilo za vseslovenski perspektivni sadni izbor. Na osnovi raziskovalnih dosežkov je bila prof. dr. Ju- lija Smole leta 1974 habilitirana, leta 1976 izvoljena v naziv docentke, leta 1978 v naziv izredne profesorice in leta 1983 v naziv redne profesorice za področje sadjarstva. Delovno področje prof. dr. Julije Smole je bila tudi hibridizacija, selekcija in introdukcija ter vzgoja novih sort breskev in češenj ter proučevanje in uvajanje marelic v posavskem in goriškem sadnem okolišu. Uspešno je bilo križanje in vzgoja novih sort breskev. V sedemdesetih letih je opravila s sodelavci križanje sorte 'Slovenija' z ameriškimi sortami ter s testiranjem in odbiro dobila osem pozitivnih križancev. Posebej uspešno je bilo tudi križanje češenj in kot rezultat je nova slovenska sorta 'Vigred'. Rezultati njenega dela so objavljeni v knjigah Naš sadni izbor, Razmnoževanje sadnih rastlin, Češnje in višnje. Sodelovala je na mnogih do- mačih in tujih konferencah in znanstvenih srečanjih, bila je mentor številnim diplomantom, pod njenim mentorstvom pa je magistriralo in doktoriralo 6 kandidatov. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 111 – 3, december 2018 738 Prof. dr. Julija Smole je prejela številna priznanja in odlikovanja. Za uspehe pri pedagoškem in znanstvenem delu, za prizadevanje pri razvoju stroke in fakultete je leta 1975 prejela Priznanje Biotehniške fakultete. Za ekološke in fiziološke raziskave pri češnjah je prejela leta 1978 Nagrado sklada Borisa Kidriča. Za uresničevanje delavskih interesov z dolgoletnim in požrtvovalnim delom v sindikalni orga- nizaciji in za pomembne uspehe v njenem uveljavljanju in razvoju je prejela leta 1978 Srebrni znak sindikatov Sloveni- je, leta 1979 pa od takratnega predsednika SFRJ Red dela s srebrnim vencem. Bila je namestnica predstojnika za agronomijo in dol- goletna predstojnica Katedre za sadjarstvo in kasneje Inšti- tuta za sadjarstvo, vinogradništvo in vrtnarstvo, kjer je vzgo- jila precej diplomantov in mladih raziskovalcev. Z veseljem je priskočila na pomoč z idejami, komentarji, popravki, sadjarskimi nasveti in nasveti za vsakdanje življenje. 15. 10. 1994 se je upokojila. Prof. dr. Julija Smole je bila dejavna v strokovnih orga- nizacijah, združenjih in društvih, v odborih Poslovne skup- nosti za sadjarstvo Republike Slovenije in delovnih skupi- nah Alpe – Jadran. Bila je član oddelčnih in fakultetnih teles, Raziskovalne skupnosti Slovenije, Strokovnega sadjarskega društva Slovenije in Hortikulturnega društva, uredniškega odbora glasila Naš vrt in revije SAD in drugih upravnih, poslovnih in družbenih teles. Bila je ustanovna članica Stro- kovnega sadjarskega društva Slovenije in v njem delovala že od vsega začetka – zavidljivih 48 let. Predavanja prof. Smoletove niso bila obvezna, pa je bila predavalnica vedno polna. Njena predavanja so bila izredno zanimiva in so vedno pritegnila študente. Snov je podajala na zelo razumljiv in zanimiv način, vzbujala je vedoželjnost. Mnogo študentov ima shranjene zapiske njenih predavanj in velikokrat pridejo prav še danes. Bila je odličen pedagog. V odnosu z nami študenti je bila vedno prijateljska, izkazovala je pomoč pri delu in si zavzeto prizadevala za boljši učni uspeh. Svoje znanje je ne- sebično razdajala številnim generacijam sadjarjev, povedala kakšno modrost in življenjski nasvet. Prof. dr. Julija Smole je pustila pomemben pečat v slo- venskem sadjarstvu s svojim raziskovalnim, strokovnim in pedagoškim delom ter s svojim znanjem zaznamovala slo- venske sadjarje. In memoriam Prof. Dr. Julija Smole (1930–2018) Fall is the time, when fruit grower's work is rewarded with bountiful and vibrant fruit. But as the earth gives it also takes away and we are sad to say goodbye to our esteemed colleague, teacher and friend, prof. dr. Julija Smole, who passed away on 27th of September 2018. Prof. dr. Julija Smole was born on 25th of April 1930 in Ljubljana. She attended primary school in Šmarje near Lju- bljana (1937-1942) and high school in Ljubljana. In 1949 she enrolled to the former Faculty for Agronomy and Forestry in Ljubljana and graduated in June 1955. She started work at a fruit nursery in Kamnik on August 1st 1955, where she ac- quired practical experience by setting up and managing new orchards. After four years, in 1959, she became the direc- tor of the company. In 1961 she started work as an assistant at the Chair for Fruit Growing at Biotechnical Faculty. Her fast and fruitful academic carrier launched her among the leading university professors at the Faculty. Moreover, she became a skilled professional in pomological sciences, both in theoretical and practical aspects. She was involved in cherry and apricot selection set up in Gorica and Istria fruit-growing regions. Her achievements were described in Pomological yearbooks and other Slove- nian pomological publications. She was also very active in disseminating her work in national and international peri- odicals. In 1971 she became Master of Science and defended her PhD in agronomy in 1973. Her MSc and doctoral thesis represented the scientific basis for modern sweet cherry and sour cherry selection suitable for the Gorica fruit-growing region. Moreover, these works paved the path for Slovenian Fruit selection today. Research achievements enabled prof. dr. Julija Smole to acquire university habilitation in 1974, promotion to assistant professor for Fruit Growing in 1976, associate professor in 1978 and full professor in 1983. The work field of prof. dr. Julija Smole extended to hy - bridization, selection and introduction of new peach and sweet cherry cultivars as well as to the study and introduc- tion of apricot cultivars in the Posavje and Gorica fruit- growing regions. She was successful in crossing and cultiva- tion of new peach cultivars. In 1970’s she and her colleagues succeeded in crossing the cultivar 'Slovenia' with several American cultivars with an outcome of 8 new promising crosses. She was also successful in sweet cherry breeding and is most known for the 'Vigred' cultivar. She published her breeding activities in the following publications: Naš sadni izbor (Our fruit selection), Razmnoževanje sadnih rastlin (Propagation of fruit plants) and Češnje in višnje (Sweet and sour cherries). She actively participated in many national and international conferences and research meet- ings, and mentored numerous graduate and MSc theses. She was a mentor to no less than 6 doctoral students. Acta agriculturae Slovenica, 111 – 3, december 2018 739 Prof. dr. Julija Smole was the recipient of several awards and honours. Among others, she received the award of Bio- technical Faculty for her teaching and research work in 1975 as well as the Boris Kidič fund award for her environmental and physiological research on cherries in 1978. She received the Silver token of the labour union in 1978 as she devoted many years and energy for recognition and progress of this organization and particularly, worker’s rights. In 1979 the former president of SFRY awarded prof. dr. Julija Smole the Silver wreath order. She was deputy head of the Agronomy Department and long-time head of the Chair for Fruit Growing, Viticul- ture and Vegetable Growing. She was always eager to help, advise, comment, direct and lead young undergraduate stu- dents, PhD students, researchers and colleagues. Her profes- sional knowledge was also complemented with day-to-day advice on life itself. Prof. dr. Julija Smole retired on 15th of October 1994 but she remained active in professional socie- ty as well as warmly greeted by her co-workers on different social occasions. Prof. dr. Julija Smole actively participated in profes- sional organizations, associations and societies, took part in the Slovenian Business Community for Fruit Growing and in Alpe – Jadran working groups. She was a member of different committees at the Department and Faculty le- vels, Slovenian Research society, Professional Fruit Growing Society, Horticultural Society, she was on editorial board of Naš vrt and SAD newsletters and attended several other administrative, legal and social groups. She was one of the founding members of Professional Fruit Growing Society in Slovenia and has been active in it since the very beginnings – for 48 years! Her classes were not obligatory but nevertheless, the classroom was always full. She was a compelling lecturer and always knew how to appeal to students. She presented the topics coherently and intrigued curiosity. Many students still have notes from her lectures and these remain relevant today. Prof. dr. Julija Smole was simply an amazing pro- fessor. She was always friendly with the students, helpful and eagerly trying to promote their learning success. She unselfishly distributed her knowledge to many generations of fruit growers, shared her wisdom and advice. Prof. dr. Julija Smole assigned a significant mark on Slovenian fruit growing both in research and professional fields but mostly left a lasting impression of her knowledge on many generations of Slovenian fruit growers. prof. dr. Metka Hudina Biotehniška fakulteta / Biotehnical Faculty Oddelek za agronomijo / Department of Agronomy