The Zois Award and Recognition for 2025 go to Andrej Rahten and Luka Vidmar

At the public announcement held today, October 14, 2025, at 11:00 at the Rog Center, Zois awards and recognitions were presented. Among the recipients announced by the chairwoman of the National Assembly Committee for the Awarding of Prizes and Recognitions for Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research and Development, prof. dr. Nataša Vaupotič, were also researchers from ZRC SAZU, dr. Luka Vidmar and dr. Andrej Rahten. The significance of the awards and recognitions was also addressed at the ceremony in Rog by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, dr. Igor Papič.

Prof. dr. Andrej Rahten (University of Maribor, Faculty of Arts; ZRC SAZU, Milko Kos Historical Institute; Austrian Academy of Sciences) received the Zois Award for outstanding achievements in studying Slovenian political history. As stated in the justification, through his scientific research work, he has significantly contributed to a better understanding of Slovenian political history during the last decades of the Habsburg monarchy and the post-imperial period. Among his most important works are studies on Slovenian-Croatian relations in the Habsburg monarchy and the Sarajevo assassination, biographies of Izidor Cankar, Ivan Šusteršič, and Anton Korošec, a trilogy on the Slovenian perception of the Habsburg dynasty, and several monographs in the field of diplomatic history. His research work helps preserve historical memory and deepens the understanding of pivotal events and personalities that marked the Slovenian space in the first half of the 20th century.

Assoc. dr. Luka Vidmar (ZRC SAZU, Institute for Slovenian Literature and Literary Studies) received the Zois recognition for significant achievements in interdisciplinary research of literature and culture between the 16th and 19th centuries. With his research, as noted in the justification, he shed new light on literature and culture in Slovenia during the 16th to 19th centuries. He elucidated the fate of the copies of Bohorič’s grammar and highlighted the connection between Protestant and Catholic perceptions of the Slovenian Christian community. He studied the influence of censorship, the beginnings of Slovenian secular drama, the German novel, and travel writing. He examined Zois’s influence on administrative and school reforms as well as his collections of Slovenian and Slavic books. He based his research on previously unexplored manuscripts and successfully linked literary, cultural, and art history. His work is an important contribution to preserving written cultural heritage, especially the Zois library. Photo MVZŠI