Janez Janša

Ivan Janez Janša (Slovene pronunciation: [ˈíːʋan ˈjàːnʃa]; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša,[ˈjàːnɛs ˈjàːnʃa] is a Slovenian politician who was Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2004 to 2008 and again from 2012 to 2013. He has led the Slovenian Democratic Party since 1993. Janša was Minister of Defence from 1990 to 1994, holding that post during the Slovenian War of Independence (June–July 1991).

Janša became Prime Minister again in 2012, following an early election in December 2011. On 27 February 2013, Janša's second government was ousted in a vote of non-confidence, and Positive Slovenia's Alenka Bratušek was tasked to form a new government. On 5 June 2013, Janša was sentenced to two years in prison on corruption charges. The ruling was confirmed by Slovenia's higher court on 28 April 2014 and unanimously overturned by the Constitutional Court of Slovenia on 23 April 2015.

Youth and education

Born to a Roman Catholic working-class family of Grosuplje, he was called Janez (a version of the same name, known as John in English) since childhood. His father was a member of the Slovenian Home Guard from Dobrova near Ljubljana who had escaped Communist retaliation due to his young age. Janez graduated from the University of Ljubljana with a degree in Defence Studies in 1982, and became a trainee in the Defence Secretariate of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. In his younger years, when being a communist was advantageous for career, he was a member of the League of Communists and one of the leaders of its youth wing. He became president of the Committee for Basic People's Defence and Social Self-Protection of the Alliance of Socialist Youth of Slovenia (ZSMS).

Janez Janša (director)

Janez Janša (born 6 February 1964 as Emil Hrvatin) is one of the three contemporary artists who in 2007 changed their names to Janez Janša, the name of the Slovenian right-wing politician Janez Janša. He is editor, theatre and film director, and contemporary performing artist.

Life

He has studied sociology and theatre directing at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and performance theory at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

From 1999 to 2006, he has been editor in chief and director of Maska journal and publishing house. Titles edited by him include a reader of contemporary theatre theories and a reader of contemporary dance theories.

Since 1999 he has been the director of the Maska publishing house, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

In 2007, he and other two Slovene contemporary artists together officially changed their names to Janez Janša, the name of the Slovenian right-wing politician Janez Janša.

In 2008, Mladina magazine published his biography and a month later he co-edited together with Janez Janša (performance artist) and Janez Janša (visual artist) the book NAME Readymade.

Janez Janša (performance artist)

Janez Janša (born 7 December 1970 in Bergamo, Italy, as Davide Grassi) is one of the three contemporary artists who in 2007 changed their names to Janez Janša, the name of the Slovenian right-wing politician Janez Janša. He is a conceptual artist, performer and producer graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Milan, Italy. His work has a strong social connotation and is characterized by an inter-media approach. He is co-founder and director of Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana.

His first public artistic project was the urban installation "I Need Money to Be an Artist", which was presented first in Ljubljana, Slovenia (1996) and then in Venice, Italy. In 2001 he became President of the Management Board of “Problemarket.com – the Problem Stock Exchange”, a virtual platform on which shares of companies dealing with problems are floated. The following year Janša produced “machinaZOIS” an electromechanical patron that financially supports contemporary artists and artistic productions. Then he started the development of “DemoKino – Virtual Biopolitical Agora”, a virtual parliament that through topical film parables provides the voters with the opportunity to decide on issues that are becoming the essence of modern politics: the questions of life. In 2005 Janša established the platform “RE:akt!” that examines media's role in manipulating perceptions and creating (post)modern historical myths and contemporary mythology. A part of this platform is the project “Mount Triglav on Mount Triglav” by Janez Janša, Janez Janša and Janez Janša.