Balduin Saria (born 5 June 1893 in Ptuj (Pettau in German), Lower Styria, died 3 June 1974 in Graz, Austria) was a classical historian, archeologist, epigraphist and numismatist.[1]
Balduin Saria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 5 June 1893 |
| Died | 3 June 1974 (aged 80) |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Spouse |
Jolanthe Saria b. Hartmann
(m. 1928) |
| Children | Reingard Jolanta (1931) and Gertruda Katarina (1935) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | National Museum of Yugoslavia University of Belgrade University of Ljubljana University of Graz |
| Signature | |
 | |
After receiving his doctorate in the field of prehistory and classical archaeology from the University of Vienna in 1921 he was employed as a librarian in the university's Archaeological-Epigraphic Seminar. In 1922 he moved to Belgrade, as the head of the Prehistoric, Roman and Numismatic Department in the Yugoslavian National Museum. In 1926 he started to teach prehistory, classical archeology and numismatics at the University of Ljubljana. After Italy occupied the southern part of Slovenia including Ljubljana in 1941, Saria moved to Styria, to teach Roman antiquity and epigraphy at the University of Graz.[2]
His academic career came to an abrupt end in 1945; he was forced into early retirement.[3]
Photo gallery
editIt contains photos of Saria's birthtown and of several Roman monuments, the discovery of which took place in his youth and greatly changed the Slovenian archaeological landscape.[4] The first photo shows the Roman relief built into the outer wall of the house where Saria was born.
Life and work
editSaria was born 5 June 1893 in Ptuj, Austria-Hungary, now Slovenia, the oldest Styrian town (Poetovio in Roman times), located on the important communication route between the Eastern Alpine countries and the Pannonian Basin on the one hand and the central Danube region and the northern Adriatic coast on the other hand. He was the youngest of the three children in a German-speaking bourgeois family. His father Alois Saria, born in Guštanj came to Ptuj in the 1870s as a pioneer sergeant. He married Maria Oblack (also spelled Marija Oblak) from Ptuj, left the army and took over her family's trading business.[3]
Saria's interest in ancient history developed in his early youth. A Roman relief depicting Nutrices, female deities, the protectors of nursing mothers and motherhood, was built on the front of the house in which he was born. On the town tower, ancient epigraphic monuments could be read, and during Saria's youth, a number of important archaeological finds were discovered in the vicinity, which aroused great interest among the general public, including a cult site dedicated to the Persian deity Mithras. In the two decades from Saria's birth till the end of his high school in 1912, at least one major excavation or chance discovery took place every year in or near Ptuj.[5]
During his high school years, Saria was a member of the Ptuj Museum Society (Musealverein Pettau). He intensively dealt with the history of the Roman period of Ptuj and with great vigor participated in archaeological excavations and conservation of finds from the ancient Poetovio (its full name was Colonia Ulpia Traiana Poetovio).[3][6] With an estimated population of 17,000 people in Roman times it was the largest settlement not only in what is now Styria but also in Štajerska, its Slovenian part.[7]
In 1912 Saria moved to Vienna to study ancient history, archaeology and classical philology at the Archaeological-Epigraphic Seminar of the Faculty of Arts. His teachers included the ancient historian and epigraphist Eugen Bormann, the ancient historian and numismatist Wilhelm Kubitschek, the archaeologist Emil Reisch and the philologist Edmund Hauler, later also the archaeologist Emanuel Löwy and the prehistorian Oswald Menghin. In 1914, when the First World War broke out, he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army, where he also experienced captivity as an Italian prisoner of war and the end of the war in the position of artillery first lieutenant. In 1919 he resumed his study in Vienna and as a promising student, he was soon included in the work of the Archaeological-Epigraphic Seminar. In the winter semester of 1919/20 he was a scholarship holder of the seminar and from the summer semester of 1920 he worked there as a librarian. In 1921 he completed the study with a doctorate, supervised by Emil Reisch. The dissertation title was On the development of the Mithraic cult image [Zur Entwicklung des mithrischen Kultbildes].[8][9][10]
At that time he changed his religion from Catholic to Protestant, and also had to choose whether, as a German Styrian, he should pursue his career in Austria or return to Ptuj, which was now part of the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. Vienna was still one of the most important scientific centres and could offer Saria a good international career, but in the war-torn Austria, which had shrunk to an eighth of its pre-WWI size in terms of population and area, job opportunities were very limited. The financial situation in the old homeland was not much better, too, the level of scientific production was modest and there was a deep mistrust of the German-minded people, especially in Lower Styria and Carniola. However, in the new state there was a great shortage of trained and capable specialists in most scientific institutions, with great employment opportunities. This argument was probably decisive.[3]
In August 1922, he attended an archaeological conference in Yugoslavia, in Dobrna near Celje. Vladimir Petković, the respected Serbian art historian and archaeologist, the new manager of the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade wanted to reorganize the collections according to modern museum principles. Young scientist Saria fitted such a plan perfectly and after initial hurdles, Petković invited Saria in November to come to Belgrade.[3]
From the end of 1922 to 1926 he worked at the National Museum, where he was soon entrusted with the management of the archaeological and numismatic department. During this time he also became an assistant, later an assistant professor in the Department of Ancient History at the Faculty of Arts, University of Belgrade.[11] By participating in and later also leading excavations in Central Serbia and Southern Serbia, now Northern Macedonia (Viminacium, Scupi, Stobi) as well as studying available antiquities and the Serbian medieval numismatics, he acquired a thorough knowledge of the historical topography of these areas.[12]
His work was noticed at the University of Ljubljana, founded in 1919 and where archaeological curriculum was established in 1923. After the first contacts in October 1924 he was invited to come to Ljubljana in October 1925, for the versatility of his scientific work, his excellent knowledge of classical languages, his previous achievements and the need to surpass the Italians ....[3][13] Upon the retirement of Nikolaj Bubnov (an emigrant from Kiev after the First World War) in the spring of 1926, he took over the position of the associate professor of ancient history and the chair for ancient history and epigraphy. He gradually became the central figure of Slovenian Roman studies.[14] He developed epigraphy, ancient military history, archaeological cartography and surveying to top level of Central European archaeology.[15][16] Important part of his teaching was the participation of students in the field work.[17] During that time he led excavations at several sites in Slovenia, including the Late Roman fortress at Velike Malence and the Roman aqueduct for Neviodunum.[18][19][20][21]
In 1937, he was promoted to the title of full professor and until 1942 he continuously participated in the education of Slovenian historians and classical philologists (who at that time still combined the study of philology with the study of ancient history and ancient archaeology). In 1938 he published, together with Viktor Hoffiller, the seminal work Antique inscriptions from Yugoslavia / Noricum and Pannonia Superior.[22] As many copies of this book were lost during the WWII, it was republished in 1970.[23]
Saria considered himself a German and ideologically joined National Socialism. After the Italian occupation of the central-southern part of Slovenia in 1941, the newly formed Province of Ljubljana was made up of less than a third of pre-WWII Slovenia with one fourth of its population. University of Ljubljana lost most of its hinterland, its future was questionable and Saria searched for a suitable position in the German Reich. He found it in the city nearest to his birthplace, which replaced Ptuj as the center of Styria after the defeat of Hungarian army with its allies in the Battle of Mohács, and in 1942 started to teach Roman antiquity and epigraphy at the University of Graz. Though he kept an apolitical attitude in his texts from the war period, Saria, for no apparent reason, applied for membership in the Nazi Party in June 1944 and was officially accepted in January 1945. This decision proved fatal for his academic career – immediately after the capitulation of Germany in 1945 he was forced into early retirement.[2][3][24][25]
From 1947 onwards he wrote several articles on ancient and modern history, intellectual history, cultural policy, and questions of ethnicity in south-eastern Europe. After 1949 he led excavations in Austria, on behalf of the Austrian Archaeological Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in Sankt Pölten (Aelium Cetium), in Winden am See (Roman estate) and especially between the villages Bruckneudorf and Parndorf.[26] Between 1949 and 1955 a villa complex with the palatial main building, a large number of outbuildings and surrounding walls was uncovered here. The floor mosaics in the main building, over 300 m2 in size are the largest such find in Austria. From 1953 to 1966, Saria was a freelance researcher at the Southeast Institute in Munich. Here his language abilities and diverse specialist knowledge, his familiarity with the historical and cultural circumstances in the South Slavic countries, his practical sense to deal with various agendas carefully and quickly were all put to good use.[25]
Personal life and death
editIn his Belgrade years Saria visited the village Nova Ševa (German Neu Schewa), now Ravno Selo in Bačka, 150 km to the northwest of Belgrade, where pre-WWII a large share of inhabitants were of German origin. He met a local girl, Jolanthe, maiden name Hartmann, born 1904, 11 years younger than him. In February 1928 they married in Nova Ševa. They lived in Ljubljana, before relocating first to Ptuj in the spring 1942 and to Graz in December 1943, and had two daughters, Reingard Jolanta (born 1931) and Gertruda Katarina (born 1935).[3][27]
In 1970 Saria suffered a mild stroke, in 1971 he underwent a surgery. He recovered well and a month before his death he served as a guide on a day trip organized by the Historical Society of Styria. Saria died of heart failure in Graz June 3, 1974, two days before his 81st birthday. His last scientific work was in Slovenian, about his hometown: an "Overview of the Topography of Poetovio". It was published posthumously in Maribor, in the journal Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje [Journal of History and Ethnography] together with his obituary.[25][28][29]
Legacy
editProfessor Saria's work was largely devoted to the study of antiquities in the South Slavic countries. He had a particularly thorough knowledge of the antiquity in Slovenia, and to address its issues, what was missed and needed, he was preparing an outline of the history of the classical antiquity for the eastern-Alpine region. Unfortunately WWII and his personal decisions related to it prevented him from completing this work. Nevertheless his extensive opus, not only articles in scientific journals but especially selectively written lexical-analytic reviews for the Practical encyclopedia of classical antiquity and entries in many other lexicons will continue to inform the world about the state of ancient Roman studies for places such as Nauportus, Neviodunum, Ocra pass below the Nanos plateau, Poetovio, Stobi, Ulpianum or Viminacium.[2][30][31]
Selected publications
edit- Ceramiae-Deuriopos, Mitteilungen des Vereins klassischer Philologen 2 (1925) p. 34–38, 102–103
- Vor- und frühgeschichtliche Forschung in Südslawien [Prehistoric and early historical research in South Slavia], Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission 16 (1926) p. 86–118
- Bathinus flumen [Bosnia River], Mélanges F. Šišić (1929) p. 137–142 (also see Klio 23 [1929] p. 92–97 and Klio 26 [1933] p. 279–282)
- Zur Geschichte des Kaisers Regalianus [On the history of Emperor Regalianus], Klio 30 (1937) p. 352–354
- Pozorište u Stobima [Theater in Stobi], Godišnjak muzeja Južne Srbije 1 (1937) p. 1–68 (also see Archäologischer Anzeiger 1938, p. 81–148)
- Der spätantike Limes im westlichen Jugoslawien [The Late Antique Limes in Western Yugoslavia], Studi Bizantini e neoellenici 5 (1938) p. 308–316
- Die Inschriften des Theaters von Stobi [The inscriptions of the Stobi theater], ÖJh Beiblatt 32 (1940) p. 5–34
- Noricum und Pannonien (ein Forschungsbericht) [Noricum and Pannonia (a research report)], Historia 1 (1950) p. 436–486
- Der römische Gutshof von Winden am See [The Roman estate of Winden am See], Burgenländische Forschungen 13, 1951, p. 16–22
- Die geographischen Kenntnisse der Griechen und Römer vom Ostalpengebiet [The geographical knowledge of the Greeks and Romans of the Eastern Alps], Ostdeutsche Wissenschaft 4 (1958) p. 89–98
- Der römische Herrensitz bei Parndorf und seine Deutung [The Roman manor house near Parndorf and its interpretation], Wissenschaftliche Arbeiten aus dem Burgenland 35 (1966) p. 252–271
- Die antike Stadt in Südosteuropa [The ancient city in southeastern Europe], Südosteuropa-Jahrbuch 8 (1968) p. 11–22
Bibliography
editThe following optional lists: Self-standing publications, Articles in journals and newspapers, Articles in collective works, bring Saria's (almost) entire opus, as documented in the three bibliograhic articles (all are freely accessible online), published in German in 1963, 1968 and 1973.[32][33][30] For various reasons his articles in the monthly/semimonthly magazine "Reč i slika" (Word and Image, Belgrade, January 1926 – April 1927], in the weekly "Werbaßer Zeitung" (Vrbas Gazette, Novi Vrbas, 1902–1941), and his reviews in the following journals: Byzantinisch-neugriechische Jahrbücher, Jahrbuch für die Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutschlands, Bibliotheca Orientalis, Mitteilungen der Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft were not included in the three abovementioned sources.
The entries in the lists are numbered and chronologically ordered, publication years are emphasized in the first appearance. For clarity, to avoid overlong entries and for easier perception of the subjects covered in the works of Saria only English translations of the publication titles are given. As he published mainly in his native tongue, the publication language is shown after the title only when it was different from German.
| A – 10 Self-standing publications |
|
| B – 281 Articles in journals and newspapers |
|
| C – 198 Articles in collective works |
|
References
edit- ^ Šašel Kos, Marjeta (1996). "SARIA, Balduin". In Javornik, Marjan; Voglar, Dušan; Dermastia, Alenka (eds.). Enciklopedija Slovenije [Encyclopedia of Slovenia] (in Slovenian). Vol. 10, Pt–Savn. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga. p. 402.
- ^ a b c Šašel, Jaroslav (1974). "Balduin Saria (1893–1974)". Arheološki vestnik (in Slovenian). 25. Ljubljana: Inštitut za arheologijo ZRC SAZU: 534–536. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mlinar, Janez (2019). "Ein deutschsprachiger Sohn der Untersteiermark [A German-speaking son of Lower Styria]". In Hruza, Karel (ed.). Lebensläufe und Karrieren 1900–1945. Österreichische Historiker [Austrian Historians] (in German). Vol. 3. Vienna: Böhlau. pp. 379–404. ISBN 978-3-205-20801-3. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Petru, Peter (1965). "Nekateri problemi provincialno rimske arheologije v Sloveniji" [Some problems of provincial Roman archeology in Slovenia]. Arheološki vestnik (in Slovenian). 16. Ljubljana: Inštitut za arheologijo ZRC SAZU: 65–107. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ Vomer-Gojkovič, Mojca; Kolar, Nataša (1993). Archaeologia Poetovionensis : stara in nova arheološka spoznanja : [monografija ob stoti obletnici Pokrajinskega muzeja Ptuj] [Archaeologia Poetovionensis: old and new archaeological findings: [monograph on the hundredth anniversary of the Ptuj Provincial Museum]] (in Slovenian and English). Ptuj: Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj. p. 79.
- ^ Vomer Gojkovič, Mojca (December 2018). "Mithraea in Poetovio and the New Discovery". Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 58 (1–4). Budapest: Hungarian Academy of Sciences: 263–273. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
- ^ Donev, Damjan (2020). "The top-ranking towns in the Balkan and Pannonian provinces of the Roman Empire". Arheološki vestnik. 71. Ljubljana: Inštitut za arheologijo ZRC SAZU: 193–215. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ Wlach, Gudrun (2020). "Balduin Saria – Biographische Skizze eines Archäologen vor dem Hintergrund der politischen Umbrüche des 20. Jahrhunderts [Balduin Saria – Biographical sketch of an archaeologist against the background of the political upheavals of the 20th century]". In Modl, Daniel; Peitler, Karl (eds.). Archäologie in Österreich 1938–1945 [Archaeology in Austria 1938–1945]. Schild von Steier (in German). Vol. 8. Graz: Universalmuseum Joanneum, Archäologie & Münzkabinett. pp. 174–189. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ "Saria, Balduin (1893–1974)". Propylaeum Vitae (in German). Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Library. 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ Saria, Balduin (1927). "Zur Entwicklung des mithrischen Kultbildes" [On the development of the Mithraic cult image]. Mitteilungen des Vereins klassischer Philologen (in German). 4. Vienna: Verein Klassischer Philologen: 53–59.
- ^ "Saria, Balduin". Hrvatska enciklopedija, mrežno izdanje. (in Croatian). Zagreb: Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža. 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ Saria, Balduin (1923). "Razvitak mitrine kultne slike" [The development of Mithra's cult image]. Starinar (in Serbian) (2). Beograd: Serbian Archaeological Society: 33–62.
- ^ Novaković, Predrag (2004). "Zgodovina arheologije na Univerzi v Ljubljani [History of archeology at the University of Ljubljana]". Osemdeset let študija arheologije na Univerzi v Ljubljani [Eighty years of archeology at the University of Ljubljana] (in Slovenian). Ljubljana: Oddelek za arheologijo – Filozofska fakulteta – Univerza v Ljubljani. pp. 32–36. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ Novaković, Predrag (2002). "Archaeology in five states – A peculiarity or just another story at the crossroads of 'Mitteleuropa' and the Balkans: A case study of Slovene archaeology". In Biehl, Peter F.; Gramsch, Alexander; Marciniak, Arkadiusz (eds.). Archäologien Europas: Geschichte, Methoden und Theorien [Archaeologies of Europe: History, Methods and Theories]. Tübinger Archäologische Taschenbücher (in German and English). Vol. 3. Münster: Waxmann. pp. 323–352. ISBN 978-3-830-91067-1. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ Novaković, Predrag (2011). "Archaeology in the New Countries of Southeastern Europe: A Historical Perspective". In Lozny, Ludomir R. (ed.). Comparative Archaeologies: A Sociological View of the Science of the Past. New York: Springer Science+Business Media. pp. 339–461. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ Saria, Balduin; Klemenc, Josip (1939). "Doneski k vojaški zgodovini naših krajev v rimski dobi" [Contributions to the military history of Slovenian places in the Roman era]. Glasnik Muzejskega društva za Slovenijo (in Slovenian). 20. Ljubljana: 115–151.
- ^ Saria, Balduin (1938). "Odkopavanja arheološkega seminarja Univerze Kralja Aleksandra I. v Ljubljani" [Excavations of the archaeological seminar of the King Alexander I University in Ljubljana]. Jugoslovanski istorijski časopis (in Slovenian). 4: 192–194.
- ^ Baš, Franjo (2020). "Saria, Balduin (1893–1974)". Slovenska biografija (in Slovenian). Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti, Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ Saria, Balduin (1929). "Začasno poročilo o izkopavanjih na Gradišču pri Vel. Malenci" [Provisional report on the excavations at Gradišče pri Vel. Malenci]. Glasnik Muzejskega društva za Slovenijo (in Slovenian). 10. Ljubljana: 11–17.
- ^ Saria, Balduin (1930). "Drugo začasno poročilo o izkopavanjih na Gradišču pri Vel. Malenci" [Second provisional report on the excavations at Gradišče pri Vel. Malenci]. Glasnik Muzejskega društva za Slovenijo (in Slovenian). 11. Ljubljana: 5–12.
- ^ Saria, Balduin (1937–1940). "Die römische Wasserleitung von Neviodunum" [Roman aqueduct of Neviodunum]. Vjesnik Hrvatskog arheološkog društva (in German). 18–21. Zagreb: 249–256.
- ^ Hoffiller, Viktor; Saria, Balduin (1938). Antike Inschriften aus Jugoslavien / Noricum und Pannonia Superior [Antique inscriptions from Yugoslavia / Noricum and Pannonia Superior] (in German). Vol. 1. Zagreb: F. Pelikan Beograd, St. Kugli Zagreb. p. 279.
- ^ Hoffiller, Viktor; Saria, Balduin (1970). Antike Inschriften aus Jugoslavien. 1: Noricum und Pannonia Superior [Antique inscriptions from Yugoslavia. 1: Noricum and Pannonia Superior] (in German). Vol. 1. Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert. p. 279.
- ^ Habjanič, Iva (2020). "SARIA, Balduin. (1893–1974)". Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin (in Slovenian). Mestna knjižnica Kranj. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Diez, Erna (1974). "Balduin Saria (1893–1974)". Südost-Forschungen (in German) (33). Munich: Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung: 319–320. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
- ^ Klein, Kurt; Mayer, Theodor; Steinacker, Harold, eds. (1964). Festschrift für Balduin Saria zum 70. Geburtstag [Jubilee publication for Balduin Saria on his 70th birthday]. Buchreihe der Südostdeutschen Historischen Kommission (in German). Vol. 11. Munich: Oldenbourg. p. 513.
- ^ Wedekind, Michael, ed. (2019). Die Besetzung der Vergangenheit. Archäologie, Frühgeschichte und NS-Herrschaftslegitimation im Alpen-Adria-Raum (1939–1945) [The Occupation of the Past. Archaeology, Early History and the Legitimation of Nazi Rule in the Alps-Adriatic Region (1939–1945)] (in German). Innsbruck: Studien. p. 155. ISBN 978-3-7065-5906-5.
- ^ Saria, Balduin (1974). "Pregled topografije Poetovia" [Overview of the topography of Poetovio] (PDF). Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje (in Slovenian). 45 (2). Maribor: Založba Obzorja Maribor: 219–226. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
- ^ Mikl Curk, Iva (1974). "Balduin Saria in slovenska arheologija" [Balduin Saria and Slovenian archaeology] (PDF). Časopis za zgodovino in narodopisje (in Slovenian). 45 (2). Maribor: Založba Obzorja Maribor: 217–218. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
- ^ a b Schroeder, Felix von (1973). "Balduin Saria 80 Jahre" [Balduin Saria 80 years]. Südost-Forschungen (in German) (32). Munich: Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung: 319–320. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
- ^ "Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft/Register/Balduin Saria" [Pauly's Practical Encyclopedia of Classical Antiquity/Register/Balduin Saria] (in German). Wikimedia. 2024. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ Schroeder, Felix von (1968). "Verzeichnis der Arbeiten von Balduin Saria" [List of works by Balduin Saria]. Südost-Forschungen (in German) (22). Munich: Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung: 456–476. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
- ^ Bernath, Mathias (1968). "Zum 75. Geburtstag von Professor Balduin Saria" [On the 75th birthday of Professor Balduin Saria]. Südost-Forschungen (in German) (27). Munich: Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung: 367–370. Retrieved 15 July 2024.