Neli Niklsbacher Bregar


Kornelija Niklsbacher Bregar, also known as Neli Niklsbacher Bregar, was a Slovenian embroiderer, ethnologist, and author of professional and instructional works on Slovenian folk textile arts.

Early life and education

She was born on Christmas Day in 1912 into a well-off Slovenian family in Trieste. Her mother was Avrelija Hočevar and her father Ferdo Niklsbacher. She had an older sister and a younger brother. In 1919 she moved with her family to Ljubljana, where she attended primary school. She also studied music at the Glasbena matica. She later continued her education at the department of artistic embroidery at the Central State Institute for Women's Crafts in Ljubljana. Among her classmates were lacemakers and designers Antonija Thaler and Neža Pelhan Klemenčič, whose friend she become and with whom she later collaborated. She completed her studies in 1931 and worked for a year as an embroiderer before continuing her education at the School of Arts and Crafts in Vienna.

Career

After completing her studies in Vienna, she worked and continued her training in textile arts. In 1946 the Central State Institute for Women's Crafts in Ljubljana was reorganized into the State School for Women's Crafts, where she became headmistress. Antonija Thaler and Neža Pelhan Klemenčič were employed as teachers at the school. Through her professional guidance, the school provided support to the State Sales Institute for Home and Artistic Crafts in Ljubljana, which organized the sale of handicraft products after the WWII. Alongside her administrative work, she researched Slovenian folk embroidery, collaborating with several ethnologists, including Marija Jagodic Makarovič and Anka Novak. Her primary focus was on Upper Carniola counted-thread cross-stitch embroidery from the 16th to 19th centuries and White Carniola embroidery of the 19th century.She authored two books on folk embroidery. She also co-authored three books on crochet and knitting, and two books on sewing. She also served as a terminological consultant for the Dictionary of Slovenian Language, published in 1970 by the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Later life and death

After retiring around 1975, she settled in Kamnik. She was married but had no children. She died on 4 March 1982 in Kamnik.

Selected bibliography

ABC of Hand Knitting.Crocheting.Crocheting and Knitting.Folk Embroideries in Slovenia: Coloured Counted-Thread Embroidery.Folk Embroidery in Slovenia.I Cut and Sew Myself.
  • ''I Make it Myself