The Database (PZSBL) and Archive of the Slovenian Biographical Lexicon (ASBL)

The Archive of the Slovenian Biographical Lexicon (ASBL) began to function informally before 1925, when the first volume of the lexicon was published. In order to base the lexicon articles on the most up-to-date information, the editorial board decided to send questionnaires to living authors. The questionnaires and the material collected by the authors of the articles for the encyclopaedia have formed the basis of an archive that has been in operation for 100 years. The treasury of written, printed, photographic or other recorded documents on Slovenian and foreign personalities who actively contributed to our political, cultural, scientific, economic and other development comprises about 22,000 binders (personal and family binders).

The NSBL project has received an essential tool for keeping up to date the new biographical data found in the various materials. This information can now be managed according to its origin and any changes that may have occurred. This makes it a relevant and centralised source of verified data, which sometimes appears incorrectly in several previous relevant sources.

Information on personalities of importance for the Slovenian territory is continuously collected and updated. By the end of 2024, the collection will have expanded by more than 3,800 additional records, covering a total of about 68,300 individuals and families. The quality of the list is also continually improved by new data and corrections to existing names and records, and by basic personal data from various, mainly online, sources, mostly with (correct) dates of birth and often with dates of death, supplemented by the ongoing monitoring of data publications in various print and online media. At the same time, data in existing online biographical sources are cross-checked and corrected.