Štefanija Jazbar was born in 1903 in Ljubljana, but at the age of twenty-three, she came to Bohinj as a teacher and stayed there for the rest of her life. Her first job was in Bizeljsko, after which she got a position at the branch school in Stara Fužina. Her decision to work in Bohinj was also encouraged by the writer Fran Saleški Finžgar, who was well acquainted with Bohinj and its people. Teaching in Stara Fužina took place in one of the rooms of the Zois Castle. In addition to her professional duties, she also ran the Marija kindergarten and the children’s singing and drama group.
During World War II, she was expelled to Serbia as an educated person. After returning to Bohinj, she resumed teaching in Stara Fužina. She wrote a diary throughout her life. She also wrote poems, in which she expressed her feelings for Bohinj and the people she met there. In 1997, she became the first honorary citizen of the Municipality of Bohinj.
TEACHER
The teacher was, alongside the priest, a significant pillar of education and culture in the village community for a long time. With the establishment of separate women’s teacher training colleges, gender equality was achieved, and at the same time, the proportion of female teachers in schools began to rise rapidly. Initially, women taught only where there was a shortage of male teachers, but during World War I, the proportion shifted, with women becoming the majority, after being in a subordinate position for a long time. They received lower wages than their male counterparts, and by getting married, they would “voluntarily” give up their profession. After World War I, teachers became civil servants who were frequently transferred, while Jazbarjeva continued to teach in Bohinj until her retirement in 1954. She passed away at the venerable age of 99.
Information: Anja Poštrak, mag. Barbara Kalan / Gorenjski Museum
Photographs: Gorenjski Museum
