Franc Ksaver Lukman was born on 24th November 1880 into a family of farmers in the Parish of Sv. Jurij ob Taboru, in the Savinja Valley. At the age of seven, he began his 21-year studies. After completing his three-year General Public School at home and showing the first signs of his talent, he continued his education at the eight-year High School in Maribor and at the same time entered the minor seminary. In the High School he was an excellent student while being active in a wide variety of fields; he participated in various competitions and upgraded his musical talent with additional attendance at the harmony and counterpoint lessons. During this time he expressed in a letter to his friend Janko Šlebinger a meaningful desire: "[…] this is my decision – to work for the prosperity of the Slovenian nation and Slavism in general" (NUK, Ms 1431), which was later more than fulfilled. He continued his education in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and at the same time he lived in the Collegium Germanicum directed by the Jesuits. There he was, through the Academy of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, of which he was the President, particularly connected with Slovenian and Croatian students. In 1904 he obtained his doctorate in philosophy and in 1906 also in theology. He was ordained as priest in the Roman Church of the Gesù on 29th October 1905. After returning to his homeland he was the associate pastor in Slovenska Bistrica, while at the same time studying classical languages in Graz. During this time, he also validated his doctorate in theology on the Greek Apologists of the 2nd century. He commenced his teaching work as a teacher at the Higher Theological School in Maribor, and in 1919, at the invitation of the Commissioner Karel Verstovšek in his function as officer in charge of religious affairs, he entered the National Government in Ljubljana, where he served for one year and then stayed in Ljubljana and continued as a teacher of dogmatic theology, history of dogmatic theology and later also of patristics. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Theology for five terms and for one term also as the Rector of the newly founded University in Ljubljana. He became the honorary canon of the Diocese of Lavant and protonotary apostolic. He applied his organizational skills as a long-term editor and writer of contributions to national and foreign theological journals and on his most extensive project: fifteen years as editor of the Slovenian Biographical Lexicon. He excelled as an outstanding translator of patristic literature, beginning with a translation of Acts of the Martyrs. In 1938 he began publishing, with the Mohorjeva družba, the collection of the selected works of the Church Fathers, which he did not manage to deliver completely. From 1923 he was President of the Leonova družba and of the Academy of Theology, and then in 1935 he became President of the Prosvetna zveza. In 1940 he was elected corresponding member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (which confirmed his academic breadth). People remember him as a quiet, sophisticated gentleman, who was at the same time a kind and good-natured priest. In spite of all the work, as a leader of spiritual exercises for youth or intellectuals and as a preacher in various parishes, he never forgot his priesthood service – to help people with a good example and a word to live their relationship with God. Franc Ksaver Lukman is not sufficiently known in Slovene cultural history, therefore this work is trying to make him more familiar and to emphasize his extraordinary significance.
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