1931–2019 · Jurist, publicist, historian and founder
Tomaž Pavšič (Otalež, 21 December 1931 – Ljubljana, 9 February 2019) was a jurist, cultural worker, publicist, and politician who devoted a large part of his life to preserving the memory of the Rapallo border and to the daily lives of the Slovenes who lived along it.
Tomaž Pavšič grew up in Otalež, a village right on the Rapallo border. The border that had cut the Slovenian countryside in two had marked him from childhood — he experienced its everyday reality through his early years and reminded us of the time when the border was alive and strictly guarded.
Decades later he set about systematically collecting testimonies. He visited villages along the former border from the Julian Alps to the Adriatic, recorded the memories of elderly villagers, and documented places permanently marked by boundary stones, guardhouses, and customs posts. This pioneering fieldwork formed the foundation on which the society's entire research into the Rapallo border subsequently grew.
The result of years of collecting was the book Ob stari meji: pričevanja in spomini (Along the Old Border: Testimonies and Memories), published in 1999 by Založba Bogataj in Idrija (reprinted 2006). With it, Pavšič became the first to comprehensively document the lived experience of the Rapallo border — not only from a historical but also from a human perspective. Through the voices of witnesses he showed what it meant to live along a border that forbade you to be Slovenian.
The book quickly became the fundamental reference work for all those engaged with this subject, and aroused interest among professional historians and the wider public alike.
"The Rapallo border was one of the most severe trials of the twentieth century for Slovenes. We are obliged to keep it in memory."
Pavšič's book and his unwavering advocacy of this subject became the catalyst for a broader movement. Around him, individuals began to gather — local historians and amateur researchers united by a shared interest in the Rapallo border.
On his initiative and from the roots of his work, the Rapallo Border Historical Society was founded in Podbrdo in 2017.
In recognition of his pioneering work and invaluable contribution to preserving the memory of the Rapallo border, the Rapallo Border Historical Society named Tomaž Pavšič its honorary member.
Tomaž Pavšič died on 9 February 2019 in Ljubljana, shortly after receiving the prestigious Peterlin Award for lifelong achievement in preserving Slovenian cultural identity across borders, at a gathering in Drage. He left behind an invaluable legacy — in books, in recorded testimonies, and in the people who continue his mission.
