You are invited to a lecture entitled Louis Adamič's attitude towards communism and the Soviet Union (in light of international events in the thirties and forties).

Lecturer Milan Mrđenović is a representative of the young wave of progressive Slovenian historians. He completed his university studies in this field at the Faculty of Arts in Maribor. As a doctoral student in American Studies at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, he is researching the activities of Slovenian emigrants in the USA and their relationship to the Soviet Union in the period between 1938 and 1945. This is particularly interesting in the context of the development of the then emerging relations between the two superpowers during and after World War II, which had a significant impact on the rest of the world. This is also the period of activity of certainly one of the most famous Slovenian emigrants, Louis Adamič, the author of numerous criticisms of the American “melting pot” and foreign policy. He attracted his attention as a keen interlocutor of the coexistence of nations and one of the originators of the idea of cultural pluralism. An idea that, like Adamič himself and his legacy, is still very relevant today. And certainly also in Slovenia.

Mrđenović's work sheds light on the perception and experience of the then “Soviet Union in the light of Slovenian and American newspapers in the years 1930-1945” (diploma thesis). He examines the complexity of this relationship in the context of “American Slovenes and American-Russian relations between the years 1938-1945” (topic of his doctoral thesis). In January this year, ČZN published his scientific article on the topic “The response of American Slovenes to the events in Europe in 1938 and a general description of the political situation on the eve of World War II”. He has published more than a dozen historical popular articles related to the history of Russia and World War II on the Russia Beyond portal.

He also has his own blog "Milanovo utrinki", where he writes about many other topics. He is preparing a scientific article about Adamič, "Adamič's attitude towards communism and Russia". This will be published in a special collection of the Borec magazine at the end of the year, in honor of the 120th anniversary of Adamič's birth. Before that, he had already presented Adamič's position in a special lecture at the ZRC SAZU in Ljubljana. His own and growing interest in Adamič also led him to prepare a more broadly-based lecture on the latter's legacy.

The lecture will be in Music Film.