Aškerc Award
Background
The award is named after poet and priest Anton Aškerc (1856–1912), who was the first urban archivist of Ljubljana. Aškerc was a pioneer of the Municipal Archives of Ljubljana, set up in July 1898, renamed in 1973 to the Historical Archives Ljubljana. Already 100 years ago he advocated and achieved some still-fundamental archival principles.
The Aškerc Award is bestowed every second year on the Slovene Archives Day (20 October). On this date in 1944, still during the wartime, the presidency of the Slovene National Liberation Council released an ordinance to protect Slovene libraries, archives, and cultural monuments.
The award winners
One Aškerc Award and, at most, two Aškerc Recognitions may be given yearly, but in practice they are awarded only every two years. The Aškerc Award and Aškerc Recognition consist of a diploma, a document, and a cash prize. The financial component is assured by the Ministry of Culture. By rule, the awards are granted on 9 June, International Archives Day, in the Ljubljana town hall.
Some of the previous winners are Studia Slovenica Archives Research Institute (2008), Ema Umek (2006), Vladimir Žumer (2004), and Jože Žontar (2002).