Kaluža Boris

Boris Kaluža (Trieste, 23 June 1927 - Koper, 9 April 2008)

 

Boris Kaluža, mariner, first generation student of the Slovenian Maritime Trade Academy (SPTA) at Žusterna, older brother of the first Slovenian woman seafarer Sava Kaluža. Born on 23 June 1927 in Trieste, he was the eldest child in the family of Rudolf and Stana Kaluža.

 

He attended school in Postojna and for a short time during the war in Udine, Italy. He was a partisan during the war. He completed five high school grades, then enrolled at the SPTA on 3 March 1947 in the first valid school year of 1946/47.

 

Under his influence, his sister Sava also attended the same school. In the first year, the brother and sister were classmates, at least according to official school and other sources. As the school started at a later date, the study year was consequently extended, ending on 17July.

 

As Boris had not achieved the best grades during these five months, he re-enrolled in September 1947 of the same year. He became a classmate of Jolanda Gruden and completed his schooling with her at the same time. He passed the matriculation exam on 22 June 1950. While attending school, he made two school trips on board the ships Viševica (15 August – 15 September) and Jadran (7 July 1949 – 7 August 1949). In July 1948 he participated, together with his sister and some classmates, as well as with the youth and workers of Trieste, at the so-called Sokol all-age gymnastics meeting and performance in Prague.

 

After completing his schooling in Piran, he and his classmate Anton Lozar were employed by Jugolinija in Rijeka, initially sailing with the ship Užice. In October 1953, he passed his sublieutenant exam in Dubrovnik. Later, he sailed aboard ships of Atlantska plovidba Dubrovnik, and was eventually employed by a shipping agency in Koper. He lived with his family first in Postojna, later in Koper. He married Josipina (Pepca) Šibenik and became the father of daughter Irena and son Andrej.

 

Boris Kaluža saved a number of photographs, attentively furnished with inscriptions on the back. These very photographs (the originals are kept by his family, while copies are held in the historical PMSMP photo documentation) are a valuable source of information for the first school years of the Maritime School. The Maritime Museum Piran also keeps the professional books used by Boris Kaluža during his work.

 

Sources and literature:

 

PMSMP, Zgodovinska fotodokumentacija

 

Terčon, Nadja: Sava & Jolanda : prvi slovenski in jugoslovanski pomorščakinji : ženske in morje ter vstop Slovenk v moški svet pomorskega poklica. - Piran : Pomorski muzej = Pirano : Museo del mare "Sergej Mašera", 2020

 

Prepared by: Nadja Terčon