Joseph Velikonja

Joseph Velikonja (born Jože Velikonja; April 17, 1923 – May 23, 2015) was a Slovene-American geographer and professor.

Personal life Velikonja was born in Ljubljana, one of 13 children (10 of whom survived childhood) of the writer Narte Velikonja and his wife Ivanka (née Jeglič). While studying in Rome after the Second World War, Velikonja learned his father had been executed after a show trial in Slovenia. Joseph Velikonja died in Nova Gorica, Slovenia on May 23, 2015. He was laid to rest at Žale Central Cemetery in Ljubljana on May 27, 2015.

Education and career After graduating from high school in Ljubljana, Velikonja was initially interested in forestry and art history. The University of Washington issued the award for the best undergraduate paper on Slovene studies in 2013.

His contributions to the geography program at the University of Washington, particularly the library of materials and maps, are described from his arrival at the University in 1964 until his retirement in 1993.

Selected works Ricerche geografiche sulla Valle del Vipacco (A Geographical Study of the Vipava Valley; doctoral dissertation, 1948) Zgodovina in zemljepis za osnovne šole (Primary School History and Geography, 1948) (editor) Zemljepisni atlas za osnovne šole (Primary School Geographical Atlas, 1948) (editor) Luigi Visintin, Zemljepisni atlas za srednje in njim sorodne šole (Geographical Atlas for High Schools and Related Schools, 1948) (editor) Luigi Visintin, Zemljevid Slovenije (Map of Slovenia, 1948) Zemljepis za višje razrednih srednjih šol (Secondary School Geography for Higher Grades, 1951) Zgodovina in zemljepis (History and Geography, 3 vols., 1952) Zgodovina in zemljepis: za 3. razred osnovnih šol (History and Geography for the Third Year of Primary School, 1954) "Postwar population movements in Europe" (in Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1958) (coauthor) Locational Patterns of Major Industries in the City of Chicago (1960) Slovenski profesorji na ameriških univerzah in collegeih (Slovenian Professors at American Universities and Colleges, 1960) Italians in the United States (1963) Sodobna politična geografija in slovenska politična stvarnost (Contemporary Political Geography and Slovenian Political Reality, 1968) Slovenska identiteta v sodobni Evropi (Slovenian Identity in Modern Europe, 1973) "Some Geographical Implications of the 'Brain Drain'" (in: Regional Studies, Methods and Analyses, 1974) "Yugoslavia-Emigration" (in: Südosteuropa Handbuch, 1975) Preface (p. viii) to Slovenes in the United States and Canada: A Bibliography, IHRC Ethic Bibliography No. 3, Immigration History Research, University of Michigan (1981) (coauthor) Who's Who of Slovene Descent in the United States (1992)