Origin and establishment

At the instigation of attorney and visionary Paul Harris, the first Rotary Club was formed in Chicago, USA on 23 February 1905. He and his three friends discussed the idea of businessmen meeting, strengthening interconnections, while expanding the circle of personal, business and professional sciences. They decided to establish a men’s club, where members would regularly meet with a vision of professional and charitable activity, taking into account high principles and criteria, based on their own virtues.

Membership was limited to one representative of each profession and business area. Each time they met at the location of a different member. The change of meeting places was intended to make the members better acquainted with each other, and as a result, business between them would be easier. Hence the name Rotary.

The first Rotary sign was an ordinary wagon wheel in motion with a cloud of dust. The sign represented movement and civilization. In 1929, they decided on an exclusive sign, the emblem of all Rotarians. It is a gear with 24 patterns and 6 spikes in royal dark blue and gold. Later, a wedge groove was added. Today, the wheel represents the mission of Rotary, that is to serve. Members of Rotary clubs thus implement cultural, educational,
business, sustainable and humanitarian programs that improve and enrich life in the local and international environment.

International Organization of Rotary

Rotary became an international organization in 1910 when the first Rotary Club was founded in Canada. In 1922, they adopted the name Rotary International. Rotary now has about 1.3 million members in more than 30,000 clubs worldwide.

In Slovenia, the first Rotary club was founded in Maribor on 15 November 1930. The founding members of the first club were famous citizens of Maribor: the owner of the Zlatorog beer factory Oskar Dračar, the wealthiest person from Maribor – industrialist Josip Hutter, builder Vlado Šlajmer, and later also the Olympian Leon Štukelj. The history of this club is recorded in the book “The First Rotary Club in Slovenia”, written by Božidar Hribar.

Rotary clubs in Slovenia were disbanded at the beginning of World War II. With the occupation of Ljubljana, the fascist authorities banned the Rotary organization and confiscated the archives.

After 50 years, Rotarianism was yet again reviving in Slovenia. Wealthy Slovenian emigrants in Brazil, Vladimir Ovca and Janez Hlebanja, and Slovenian Canadian Ray Bukovec helped immensely to revive the idea of Rotarianism on Slovenian grounds. Otto von Habsburg also made a significant contribution to the revival of this idea in Slovenia.

Since 2011, Slovenian Rotarians have had an independent District 1912. The official name is Rotary district 1912 of Slovenia and Northern Macedonia. Prior to that, Rotary Slovenia was part of District 1910 (Vienna).

Rotary Club Ljubljana International

The initiators for the establishment of the Rotary Club Ljubljana International were Miha Murn, Milan Lapajne, Peter Ilgo, Iztok Marenče and Igor Gregorčič.

The idea of establishing the Rotary Club Ljubljana International was confirmed on 20 July 2020 by the Governor of the 1912 District, Iztok Seljak, and consequently issued a decision on the mentorship of Janez Podobnik, RC Idrija.

As a Rotarian, I will

1. Exemplify the core value of integrity in all behaviors and activities

2. Use my vocational experience and talents to serve in Rotary

3. Conduct all of my personal, business, and professional affairs ethically, encouraging and fostering high ethical standards as an example to others

4. Be fair in all dealings with others and treat them with the respect due to them as fellow human beings

5. Promote recognition and respect for all occupations which are useful to society

6. Offer my vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community

7. Honor the trust that Rotary and fellow Rotarians provide and not do anything that will bring disfavor or reflect adversely on Rotary or fellow Rotarians

8. Not seek from a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a business or professional relationship

Bojana Košnik Čuk
CLUB PRESIDENT

Miha Murn
CLUB VICE PRESIDENT

Peter Skuber
CLUB SECRETARY

Andrej Kocet
CLUB TREASURY

Milan Lapajne
CLUB MASTER

Peter Ilgo
PAST PRESIDENT

Aishath Nuzuha
SUPERVISORY BOARD

Miha Kač
CLUB MEMBER

Darjono Husodo
CLUB MEMBER

Jamal Nashawati
CLUB MEMBER

Mateja Košir
CLUB MEMBER

Barbara Gorjup
CLUB MEMBER

Planting of honey plants in Ljubljana branch Avto Krka at Devova ulica 6. Mr. Martin Učakar and Mrs. Ines Hribernik on behalf of Avto Krka. Rotary Club Ljubljana International was present with a group of 12-15. Our club member Mr. Peter Ilgo, was honoured to be part of this event.

In August we had an informal meeting at Goriška Brda. On Friday evening, we had dinner in the restaurant of the Venko hotel, and after dinner we had a short cultural program where we met the poet of Goriška Brda – Alojz Gradnik and his poetry, and  the passionate Argentine tango.

On Saturday, we had a wine tasting at winemakers Jakončič and Šibav. We were impressed by the wide range of tastes, smells, and the hospitality of the locals. The land of wine, cherries and poetry will remain in our memory for a long time, as we spent pleasant hours together.

Our visit to Prague and RC Prague International turned out to be a story of success. Not only because of their president Radka Rajska, a wise leader but also due to the members of RC PI who have all shown motivational as well as entrepreneurial skills.

No wonder that they are able to run so many well managed projects simultaneously.

We are a young club, internationally oriented, and therefore proud that our first Friendship Agreement we signed with our colleagues and friends from the Czech Republic. I believe the agreement will be the base for a sound and long-term cooperation between the clubs. As mentioned in the text we shall start working together on two ongoing projects the Speechless Reconciliation and the GlassyClassy.eco. I would also like to thank Patrik Dvorščak, the Slovene painter we support, for taking part.

Peter Ilgo, President

Yesterday we met the last time in 2022 in the pleasant atmosphere of the Čad Inn in Ljubljana. For Čad, I was persuaded by Jon because his hotel was full and  busy. And I must admit that the location selection was the right one! Manja and Uroš participated in the meeting, they were invited as potential candidates for membership. Our godfather, Janez Podobnik, also took part and I would like to thank him for his words of encouragement. Other than that we had a chance to listen to an interesting presentation of Jan Kovačič covering the topic of “Mindset Growth”. In short, it was a cool evening!

Peter Ilgo, President

Together with the SILA association in Ankaran, our club donated toys to children from Ukraine.

Organized by our club
We donated the collected funds
4000 euros to Zveza za Šport Invalidov Slovenije – Slovenski Paralimpijski komite
750 euros to Zavodu za plesno terapijo

In line with our plan of visits 22/23 of foreign Rotary Clubs as well as signing a Friendship Club Agreement with them we just returned from our visit to Rotary Club Skopje International, Northern Macedonia. First of all I would like to say “thank you” to the whole Skopje team for the wonderful welcome and socializing. We were thrilled to find out that the signing of our Friendship Club Agreement will take place on the premises of the famous Lazar winery near Veles about 100 km away from Skopje. Not only the hosts but the food and wine were delicious. We found out that there are so many things that are still binding the two nations. The language , the culture and the love for life.

RC Skopje International is a club of professionals each of them contributing to the results of the whole them. We must give special thanks to their President Evita Ivanova who organized the whole venue and made sure everything went well. In the signed Friendship Club Agreement we included two of our ongoing projects that is the Macedonian Raising Multiple Ssclerosis Awareness project and our Speechless Reconciliation Reunion project. The good news is that 6 youngsters from Macedonia are included in the SR Reunion on Pohorje in August of this year. Therefore I invited members of RC Skopje Int. to join us on the picnic we shall organize on Pohorje on August 6th.

Prepared by Peter Ilgo

The ceremonial handover to the new team was accompanied by a performance by two young violinists and the opening of a painting exhibition.

We awarded the funds collected at the charity tango evening in the amount of 4,750 euros.

© Copyright 2021 Rotary Club Ljubljana International. All rights reserved.

Created by: TGS d.o.o.