Stevo Žigon

Štefan "Stevo" Žigon (Serbian Cyrillic: Стево Жигон; 8 December 1926 – 28 December 2005) was a Slovenian-Serbian actor, theatre director, and writer.

Stevo Žigon
Стево Жигон
Stevo Žigon on a 2009 Serbian stamp
Born	(1926-12-08)8 December 1926 Ljubljana, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Died	28 December 2005(2005-12-28) (aged 79) Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Nationality	Slovenian, Serbian
Education	Faculty of Dramatic Arts
Alma mater	University of Arts in Belgrade
Occupation	Actor, theatre director, writer

Biography

Grave of Stevo Žigon in Belgrade

His origins were primarily Italian. He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. His family were Slovene immigrants from the Slovenian Littoral, which was under Italian administration. His father was from the village of Volčji Grad near Komen in the Karst region, while his mother came from the Slovene community in Trieste (now in Italy). The family lived in Trieste until the Fascist takeover in 1922, when they fled to the neighboring Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.[1]

He studied acting in Ljubljana and Leningrad. He graduated in 1952, from the Academy for Theatre Arts in Belgrade. On faculty for acting in Belgrade he was one of the first assistants. Because of his knowledge of the German language and manners, he often played cynical and cold German officers. He was best known for playing "Krieger", chief of Belgrade Gestapo, in the popular 1970s TV series Otpisani and Povratak otpisanih.

During his youth, Žigon was an assiduous reader; he was fascinated by poetry, with his favorite poets being Alojz Gradnik, Igo Gruden, and Oton Župančič.[1]

In 1941, aged 14, as a member of Communist Youth League, he participated in many sabotage actions organized by the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People. In 1942, Žigon was captured by the Italian Army. As a minor, he was spared from execution and spent a year in an Italian military prison in the Province of Ljubljana.[1] After the Italian armistice in September 1943, he was captured by the Wehrmacht and sent to the Dachau (his prisoner number was 61185), where he learned German.

In 1968, at the time of the student demonstrations in Belgrade, Žigon emerged and performed Danton's Death; he played Robespierre for the students. The speech he made while his character was on trial caused the assembled students to explode into enthusiastic applause.[2]

He was married to Serbian actress Jelena Žigon. The couple's daughter Ivana is also an actress.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	Cudotvorni mac
1950	Crveni cvet
1957	Vraticu se	Branko Medan ... pukovnik
1958	Kala	Filozof
1959	Pet minuta raja	Stevan
1960	X-25 javlja	Hans Binder
1961	L'enclos	Dragulavic
1964	Sluzbeni polozaj	Urednik novina
1966	Amandus	Joannes
1966	Rondo	Mladen
1966	Tople godine
1967	Memento	Vili Miler
1968	Opatica i komesar	Doktor Simic
1968–1969	Rinaldo Rinaldini	Cavalcanti	TV series
1970	Oxygen	Marko
1971	Putovanje na mjesto nesrece	Nino, muz
1972	Devojka sa Kosmaja	Major Beker
1972	Walter Defends Sarajevo	Dr. Miskovic
1974	Otpisani	Kriger
1974	Parlog
1974	Strah	Blagot Balasica
1976	Idealist	Priest from Zapolje
1976	Povratak otpisanih	Kriger
1978	Ward Six	Komandant grada
1978	Occupation in 26 Pictures	Hubicka
1979	Journalist	Tomac
1980	Doslo doba da se ljubav proba	Direktor skole
1981	Sesta brzina	Nacelnik
1982	Nastojanje	Profesor Herak
1982	Deseti brat	Mr. Piskav
1983	Kako sam sistematski unisten od idiota	Stevo Zigon
1984	The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud	Professor Eberhardt
1985	The Red and the Black	Upravitelj iz Trsta
1986	Miss	Jork Morlok
1987	The Harms Case	Profesor
1988	P.S. - Post Scriptum
1988	Haloa - praznik kurvi	Profesor Manfred / Husband
1991	Bracna putovanja	Grof Johan
1993	Bolje od bekstva	Pozorisni reditelj
1993	Kazi zasto me ostavi	Starac

References

1. "Jaz sem boljševik, toda ne politični. Sem proti kapitalizmu, ker je v nasprotju z umetniško resnico. Zahodno krščanstvo je najhujša ideologija. Vatikan je prvi priznal Hrvaško, Vatikan je prek Slovenije in Janše pošiljal orožje v Bosno." – Stevo Žigon. Mladina.Si. Retrieved on 2014-07-24.
2. Želimir Žilnik Lipanjska gibanja (documentary) on YouTube