Smiljana Didek

(Opatija, 18.1.1911 - Ljubljana, 29.5.2001)

Smiljana Didek was an extremely precise draftswoman and a good painter, who contributed to the development of medical science with her illustrations. She mainly dealt with illustrating the components of the human and animal body, with the help of which professors explained the structure and functions of the organism to students. Between 1929 and 1933, she attended the academy in Zagreb. There, among all her classmates, she was the only woman who wanted to study painting.

Smiljana Didek - Portrait of a woman with a headscarf

During her years of study, she married her colleague Zoran Didek, who, like her, attended painting classes. Unlike her husband, Smiljana Didek never really became an artist in practice, but spent most of her time teaching drawing at grammar schools. She improved her skills in London, Paris and Milan. In her early stages, she produced several genre scenes, veduta, nudes and painted portraits, which mainly reflect the sensuality and psychologization of the drawn figures. She depicted several famous Slovenian artists, such as Zoran Mušič and Zoran Didek, and she also showed her skills in stone, in a portrait of Grgo Antunc.

She developed her drawing skills while working at the histology department of the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb. There, between 1944 and 1946, she drew various study preparations in watercolour and ballpoint pen. After moving to Ljubljana, she took a job at the pathological anatomy department of the Faculty of Medicine. She was a link between the profession and art. Her illustrations and color pictures were included in professional texts to facilitate understanding of detailed explanations. Smiljana Didek was a pioneer of medical illustration in our country. She was invited to scientific symposia several times, where she lectured on the importance of connecting medicine with art. Since 1966, she has been a member of the Medical Illustration Society based in Ohio.

Her most excellent sketches were published in the medical atlas Musculature of the Extremities in 1968. During her career, she produced numerous images for a wide variety of books, manuals, and magazines. She was extremely skilled at shading and achieved a third component in a two-dimensional medium. She nurtured and strongly supported her husband throughout his life. After his death, she edited his legacy in the book Researching Form-Making, published in 1982. She received several awards in recognition of her contributions to the profession. Among the most important is the Award for Dedicated Work at the Institute of Pathology, which she received in 1985.

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Smiljana Didek je bila izjemno natančna risarka in dobra slikarka, ki je s svojo ilustracijo pripomogla k razvoju medicinske znanosti. Ukvarjala se je predvsem z ilustriranjem sestavnih delov človeškega in živalskega telesa s pomočjo katerih so profesorji študentom razlagali zgradbo in funkcije organizma. Med 1929 in 1933 je obiskovala akademijo v Zagrebu. Tam je bila med vsemi sošolci edina ženska, ki se je želela izučiti za slikarski poklic.

Tekom študijskih let se je poročila s svojim kolegom Zoranom Didkom, ki je prav tako kot ona obiskoval ure slikarstva. V nasprotju z možem, Smiljana Didek v praksi nikoli ni zares postala umetnica ampak se je večino časa ukvarjala s poučevanjem risanja na gimnazijah. Izpopolnjevala se je v Londonu, Parizu in Milanu. V zgodnji fazi je izdelala nekaj žanrskih prizorov, vedut, aktov in slikanih portretov, ki odražajo predvsem čutnost in psihologizacijo narisanih figur. Upodobila je nekaj slavnih slovenskih umetnikov kot npr. Zorana Mušiča in Zorana Didka, svoje spretnosti pa je pokazala tudi v kamnu, v portretu Grge Antunca.

Risarsko znanje je razvijala med službovanjem na histološkem oddelku medicinske fakultete v Zagrebu. Tam je med 1944 in 1946 v akvarelu in s kemičnim svinčnikom risala raznovrstne študijske preparate. Po selitvi v Ljubljano se je zaposlila na patološko anatomskem oddelku medicinske fakultete. Bila je vezni člen med stroko in umetnostjo. Njene ilustracije in barvne slike so vključili v strokovna besedila, da bi omogočili lažje razumevanje podrobne razlage. Smiljana Didek je bila pionirka medicinske ilustracije pri nas. Večkrat so jo povabili na znanstvene simpozije, kjer je predavala o pomenu povezovanja medicine z umetnostjo. Od leta 1966 so jo priključili članom medicinske ilustracije s sedežem v Ohio.

Njene najodličnejše skice so leta 1968 izdali v medicinskem atlasu Muskulatura ekstremitet. Tekom svoje kariere je izdelala številne podobe za najrazličnejše knjige, priročnike in revije. Bila je izredno spretna pri senčenju in je v dvodimenzionalnem mediju dosegla še tretjo komponento. Skozi vse življenje je negovala in močno podpirala svojega moža. Po njegovi smrti je v knjigi Raziskovanje obliktvornosti uredila njegovo zapuščino, ki je izšla leta 1982. Dobila je več nagrad, s katerimi so ji izkazali hvaležnost za napredek v stroki. Med najpomembnejše sodi nagrada za požrtvovalno delo na patološkem inštitutu, ki jo je prejela leta 1985.

Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.
The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history

SOURCES/VIRI:
Manuela DAJNKO, s. v. Didek, Smiljana (1911-2001), Novi slovenski biografski leksikon, Ur. Petra Vide Ogrin, Ljubljana 2013, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi1007430/ (24.6.2024).
Marijan BRECELJ, s. v. Didek, Smiljana (1911-2001), Primorski slovenski biografski leksikon, 4. snop. Čotar - Fogar, Gorica 1977, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi1007430/ (29.8.2024).
Mateja KRAŠOVEC POGORELČNIK, Smiljana Didek: 1911-2001, Delo, XXXXIII/129, 7.6.2001, p. 5.