Among the many tasks performed by the National and University Library, it is principally to care for the material that constitutes the Slovenian written cultural heritage, and makes part of the identity of the Slovenian nation - it guarantees the availability of materials for study and research, which promote the scientific, cultural and artistic production of tomorrow.
We are very pleased that we are not alone in preserving the written cultural heritage of the Slovenian nation. We are grateful to all individuals and organizations who help us collect, preserve and promote the heritage. Therefore, since 2008 Trubar Prize has been awarded for important contributions to the preservation of the national written cultural heritage. It is given to individuals or legal entities who have made a significant contribution, or have important merits for the protection and preservation of the national written cultural heritage. The award is in the form of a diploma, and can only be received once. It is given by a special commission, which collects initiatives on the basis of a public tender.
The 2022 Trubar award is granted to prof. dr. p. Metod Benedik.
The award will be presented on Wednesday, 13 December 2023, at 1 PM, in front of the Main Reading Room of the National and University Library.
Prof. Dr Metod Benedik
Slovenian theologian and church historian Father Metod Benedik, who is a professor emeritus of the Theological Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, studied the history of Capuchin libraries in the Slovenia lands and dedicated himself to organising and presenting their legacy. He undertook particularly detailed research of the book collection of the Capuchin library in Škofja Loka, where he served as the superior of the local monastery from 1985 to 1991 and again from 1999 to 2008. In cooperation with the Municipality of Škofja Loka and with the help of donors, he oversaw the appointment of a librarian at the library in 2001. In 2008, he also supervised the revival of the library in renovated premises under the name the Father Romuald Marušič Library together with a permanent exhibition about the Škofja Loka Passion. He is largely responsible for ensuring that the entire collection of this Baroque library – which was initiated at the beginning of the eighteenth century and contains, among other valuable items, 21 incunabula, a copy of the Dalmatin Bible and the original manuscript of the Škofja Loka Passion – is now stored in climatically suitable conditions, is catalogued in the Cobiss system, and is accessible both to researchers and the general public. Thus, the Capuchin library in Škofja Loka is now an exempliary example of a modern historical book collection.
The other achievements of Metod Benedik are related to the history of Slovenian literature. He wrote numerous studies in which he researched two interrelated areas of activity of the Capuchins in the Slovenian lands during the Baroque period: sermons and passion processions. The pinnacle of Metod Benedik’s endeavours was his role as the co-editor of a facsimile edition of the collection of sermons Sacrum promptuarium by Janez Svetokriški, published in 1998 by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Metod Benedik published fundamental research on the history, background and performances of the Škofja Loka Passion, as well as on its predecessors in Ljubljana and its likely connection with the Capuchin procession in Prague. In other writings, he also examined Primož Trubar and other great figures of Slovenian history.
Over a period of several decades, Metod Benedik has made an outstanding contribution to the preservation, research and knowledge of the national written cultural heritage. He is therefore a worthy recipient of the 2023 Trubar Award.