Cankar Unveiling, Aug. 1937
"Dedicating bust of Slovene poet Ivan Cankar in Jugoslav Cultural Garden Cleveland Ohio. Left to right are J.L. Mihelich of Cleveland; Julius Slapsak, supervisor of schools in Ljubljana, Jugoslavia; Dr. Francis Trdan, prof. University of Ljubljana; Dr. Bozidar Stojanovich, Jugoslav consul general in New York; Anton Grdina of Cleveland, general chairman of the Jugoslav Cultural Garden in Cleveland, O."
Cankar (1876-1918) is considered to be one of the great Slovenian writers. Throughout his lifetime, he defended the uniqueness of the Slovenian language and culture, not wanting to see it dissolved into a Serbo-Croat culture in the process of building Yugoslavia. He did, however, support the formation of a South Slav state so long as the Slovenians could maintain their culture within it.
Image courtesy of Cleveland State Library Special Collections