The Creation of Foundations, Beginnings and Early Development of the University of Maribor

Tadeja Melanšek, M.A. in History, is an Assistant at the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor. She joined the faculty in 2021 as a young researcher and is currently working as an assistant on the project AID HCH – Break Through in Humanities and Cultural Heritage with Artificial Intelligence. Her research focuses on the development of higher education during the period of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As part of her doctoral studies, she is preparing a dissertation on the founding of the University of Maribor.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: tadeja.melansek1@um.si

Since 2019, Darko Friš has been the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor. Previously, at the former Faculty of Education of the University of Maribor, he served as Vice-Dean for Research and was for many years the Head of the Department of History at both the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Arts. He has served multiple terms as a member of the Senate of both faculties. Since 1999, he has led the research program The Past of North-Eastern Slovenia among Slovenian Historical Lands and in Interaction with the European Neighbourhood, moreover, he has managed and participated in numerous research projects. His scholarly work primarily focuses on Slovenian history between the two World Wars and the period after 1980. He is a Full Professor of contemporary history and teaches several courses across all levels of study programs. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Studia historica Slovenica and editor of a book series. Since 1996, he has organized prominent international scientific symposia every year, significantly contributing to the development of historiography.

Maribor, Slovenia. E-mail: darko.fris@um.si