Boris Kidrič, Talum Kidričevo

Boris Kidrič was born on 10 April 1912 in Vienna. In 1941, he joined the People's Liberation Army and was one of the organizers of the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation. He participated in the Assembly of Deputies of the Slovene Nation in Kočevje. After the war, in 1945, he became the first president of the Slovene government. He died on 11 April 1953 in Belgrade. Already on 12 April 1953, the Executive Council of the People's Republic of Slovenia named after him the Glinica and Aluminium Factory, the school, and the settlement, which today bears the name Kidričevo.

On 22 April 1973, the Local Community of Kidričevo, on the 20th anniversary of the revolutionary's death, erected a memorial in the memorial park between the Mercator store and the Factory Road. The residents of Kidričevo contributed one third of the money themselves, while a large portion was contributed by the Glinica and Aluminium Factory Boris Kidrič Kidričevo. The memorial is the work of academic sculptor Viktor Gojkovič and one of the first public memorials by this author. Gojkovič created the portrait in the academic style with an archaic smile.

In the first days of 2011, the portrait of Boris Kidrič was stolen. The company Talum commissioned the sculptor Gojkovič to create a new portrait and intended to return it to the residents of the municipality of Kidričevo to its original location. The mayor of the municipality of Kidričevo did not agree to the ceremony on the reinstallation of the portrait, so the company Talum decided to install it in front of its administrative building.

Statue of Boris Kidrič in front of the Talum administrative building, which was placed on 20 May 2011. It was cast according to the existing original model of the sculpture by the author Viktor Gojkovič, which stood in the memorial park in the center of the town and was stolen in 2011. The base for the new statue was designed by the renowned Slovenian designer Vladimir Pezdirc.

In the courtyard there is also Kidrič's statue.

Source: Kamra, Library of Ivan Potrč Ptuj

See also the explanation at the original location of the statue at the intersection of Factory Road and Mining Street.

Boris Kidrič. Wikipedia.