As a young man, Jurij Trunk chose to devote his life to the priesthood. Although he remained committed to God for the rest of his life, his curiosity took him across the globe. He helped to introduce Slovenian readers to the United States, and eventually became a leading figure in the Slovenian-American community.

Trunk was born in 1870 in Carnithia, now Austria’s southernmost province. As a Catholic Priest, he was proud of his Slovenian background and emerged as a strong advocate for Slovenian rights in the ethnically mixed region.

Unusually for the time, Trunk was also a passionate traveler. In his early thirties, he traveled to the Middle East and wrote a popular book about his experiences in the Holy Land. His most influential book, however, was published a few years later; it described his travels to the United States between 1909 and 1912. Titled America and the Americans, it included descriptions of everything from America’s big industrial cities to life on Midwestern farms.

Trunk was determined to portray a more balanced picture of the United States than what could be found in the Slovenian-language press at the time. Much of the volume focused on personal stories of Slovenians who had sought a better life in the New World and included detailed descriptions of Slovenian-American associations. It sold very well and gave thousands of Slovenians their first glimpse at the American way of life.

Meanwhile, the political situation at home also kept Trunk busy. After World War I, he was a part of the Slovenian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. In the wake of the conference, the victorious powers organized a referendum that would determine the fate of Trunk’s native southern Carinthia. He desperately wanted the region to join the newly created South Slav State. Unfortunately for him, most of the voters opted for Austria instead, and in the aftermath of the referendum, he was even forced to give up his priesthood by the vindictive Austrian authorities.

Distraught by the political developments in his native land, Trunk decided to immigrate to the United States in 1921. For many years, he was the priest in Leadville, a Colorado mining town with a large Slovenian population. There, Trunk urged his parishioners to remain proud of their Slovenian roots. He decorated his church with paintings and bilingual Slovenian and English inscriptions. He also wrote a column in a Slovenian-language newspaper and authored a memoir.

Trunk ultimately moved to San Francisco, where he died 1973. The man whose legacy and commitment to the Slovenian cause spanned two continents was 102 years old.