Emilija Bucik Razman

Emilija Bucik Razman
Born
Emilija Bucik

(1935-07-16)July 16, 1935
Gorizia, Italy
DiedJune 28, 2024(2024-06-28) (aged 88)
Palm Harbor, Florida, United States
EducationAcademy of Fine Arts and Design
OccupationsPainter, illustrator, cook

Emilija Bucik Razman[a] (16 July 1935 – 28 June 2024) was a Slovenian-American painter and illustrator. She studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana and initially worked as an artist in the Slovenian Littoral, mostly painting sacred art.[1] She emigrated to the United States in 1969 and settled in Chicago, where she continued to paint and became active in the Slovene-American community.[1] She was particularly known for her landscapes depicting Slovenia and for her illustrations for Zarja, the magazine of the Slovenian Women's Union of America.[1][2]

Early life

She was born on 16 July 1935 in Gorizia as the second child of a devout Catholic Slovenian family.[3][4] Her mother, Emilija Makarovič (1909–2000), and her father, Ivan Bucik (1902–1992), were both farmers from Kanalski Vrh.[3][4][5][6] She had eight siblings, of whom one sister and five brothers survived to adulthood.[4][3] She grew up on the family farm in Kanalski Vrh.[4][3] She studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts (now the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana).[1]

Career

In Slovenia

After completing her studies, she returned to the Slovenian Littoral, where she worked primarily in religious art and landscape painting.[3][1] She married at a young age and had three daughters between 1964 and 1967.[7][8][9] During this period, she painted several ceiling frescoes at the Franciscan monastery of Kostanjevica near Nova Gorica.[3] She also painted several chapels in the Gorizia region.[3] Her work also included landscapes depicting the Gorizia region and the Slovenian coast of the Adriatic Sea.[1]

In the United States

In 1969, she emigrated to the United States with her daughters as a single mother.[3] She settled in Chicago, where her younger sister was already living. Her sister had initially come to the United States as a maidservant and later became Chicago's first female bus driver.[10][11] Her elder brother, Janko Bucik, who worked as a designer under the name John Bucci, also lived there.[4][10] Her parents later emigrated to the United States as well.[5][6] In Chicago, she worked as a cook, which remained her principal occupation until her retirement.[3] She became a United States citizen in 1990.[12] Alongside her employment, she continued to paint. Her subjects consisted mainly of landscapes, still lifes, and wildlife scenes, as well as some portraits.[3][13][14] Among her works was a 1977 portrait of Marie Černe Prisland, a publicist, editor and co-founder of the Slovenian Women's Union of America, and a painting of Frederic Baraga for St. Joseph's Church in Joliet, Illinois, completed in 1976.[15][16][17] Her landscapes depicting Slovenia were particularly popular among Slovene Americans.[13][18] In February 1971, she held a successful exhibition of her work at the Bled Slovenian Home in Chicago.[1][18] In May of that year, she exhibited her work in Cleveland.[1] In November 1971, she exhibited still lifes, landscapes and portraits in the cultural pavilion of an international exhibition at Navy Pier in Chicago.[13] She subsequently participated in numerous other exhibitions in the United States. She was active in Chicago's Slovene community. In subsequent years, she created stage decorations and scenery for its Slovenian Day celebrations, including a depiction of Bled with the church on its island.[19][20] Her postcards featuring Slovenian motifs were also popular.[2]

Slovenian Women's Union of America and Zarja

In April 1971, she and her sister joined Branch No. 2 of the Slovenian Women's Union of America (SWUA; later the Slovenian Union of America) in Chicago.[1][21] This marked the beginning of her more than three decades of collaboration with the union's magazine, Zarja (The Dawn), which was edited by Corinne Novak-Leskovar.[1][22] The first issue of Zarja to feature her illustrations was the May 1971 issue (volume 43, number 5), which was dedicated to Mother's Day.[1]

Later life and death

Her final contribution to Zarja appeared in 2003.[22] The following year, she retired and moved to Palm Harbor, Florida, where her eldest daughter, a pediatrician, was employed.[23][24][7] She died of cancer in Palm Harbor on 28 June 2024.[3] She was buried there.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ She was also known as Mimi Bucik-Razman and Emilia Bucik-Razman.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Materinsko številko Zarje krasijo slike slovenske umetnice" [Zarja's maternity number is adorned with pictures by a Slovenian artist]. Zarja (in Slovenian). Vol. 5. Slovenian Women's Union of America. May 1971. p. 27.
  2. 1 2 Gobetz, Edward (1 September 2025). "Slovenian American Women - Part 2". Slovenian American Times. Vol. 11. Cleveland, Ohio, USA: Slovenian American Times Inc. p. 22.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Obituary information for Emilia "Mimi" Razman". www.curlewhills.com. June 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Gobec, Edi (2015). Slovenski ameriški izumitelji in inovatorji : njihove sledi na Zemlji in v vesolju [Slovenian American inventors and innovators: their traces on Earth and in space] (PDF) (in Slovenian). translated by Klementina Logar. Družina. ISBN 978-961-04-0146-9.
  5. 1 2 "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". 5 February 2000. {{cite web}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
  6. 1 2 "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". November 1992. {{cite web}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
  7. 1 2 "Florida Voter Registration Records, 1942-2023". Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Division of Elections. 28 September 2004.
  8. ↑ "ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21". Chicago, Illinois: National Archives at Chicago. 7 February 1990. {{cite web}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
  9. ↑ "Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21". Chicago, Illinois: National Archives at Chicago. 29 January 1990. {{cite web}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
  10. 1 2 Bucik Ozebek, Nataša (3 November 2025). "Slovenec, ki ga doma ne poznamo, v Ameriki pa je veljal za Michelangela" [A Slovenian who was unknown at home, but in America was considered a Michelangelo]. www.dnevnik.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21". National Archives at Chicago. 2 March 1964. {{cite web}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
  12. ↑ "ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21". Chicago, Illinois: National Archives at Chicago. 31 May 1990. {{cite web}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
  13. 1 2 3 "Slovenska slikarka na ameriški razstavi" [Slovenian female painter at an American exhibition]. Rodna gruda (in Slovenian). Vol. 3. Slovenska izseljenska matica. March 1972. p. 32.
  14. ↑ Sheets, Anna Jean, ed. (1995). Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Vol. 2. Gale Research. p. 1264.
  15. ↑ "Tribute To Our Founder Of S.W.U." Zarja. Vol. 7/8. Slovenian Women's Union of America. July 1979. p. 2.
  16. ↑ "Participants". Zarja. Vol. 6. Slovenian Women's Union of America. June 1977. p. 3.
  17. ↑ "Slovesna blagoslovitev Baragove slike" [The ceremony of blessing of Baraga's painting]. Zarja (in Slovenian). Vol. 3. Slovenian Women's Union of America. March 1976. p. 18.
  18. 1 2 Fischinger, Metoda (1 November 1971). "Slovenci v Chicagu - pozor!" [Slovenians in Chicago - watch out!]. Ameriška domovina (in Slovenian). Vol. 209. J. Debevec. p. 2.
  19. ↑ "Uspelo praznovanje Slovenskega dneva" [The celebration of Slovenian Day was successful]. Rodna gruda (in Slovenian). Vol. 2. Slovenska izseljenska matica. February 1973. pp. 30–31.
  20. ↑ Skamperle, Tone (March 1982). "Slovenski dan v Chicagu" [Slovenian Day in Chicago]. Rodna gruda (in Slovenian). Vol. 3. Slovenska izseljenska matica. p. 25.
  21. ↑ Arko, Krista (May 1971). "Dopisi" [Letters]. Zarja (in Slovenian). Vol. 5. Slovenian Women's Union of America. p. 27.
  22. 1 2 ""God's Corner" - Bogov kot" ["God’s Corner" - Bogov kot]. Zarja (in Slovenian). Vol. 6. Slovenian Women's Union of America. November 2003. p. 6.
  23. ↑ Sokol, Marlene (6 July 2020). "More calls for masks in Hillsborough schools". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Index to Public Records, 1994-2019". 2020. {{cite web}}: Wikipedia Library link in |url= (help)
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