Peterlin compiled a dictionary of his own to practice English . Techical Museum of Slovenia . Photo : Leja Kolenc .
THREE UNIVERSITY OAFS
Peterlin giving a lecture after being awarded honorary membership by the Jožef Stefan Institute , 1968 . Photo : Jožef Stefan Institute .
There is an amusing anecdote about Peterlin . The confusing situation after the World War Two is beautifully illustrated by the story of the “ three university oafs ”, as Peterlin himself called it . Three university professors , all of them called Anton ( Peterlin , Kuhelj , and Moljk ) were sent off to Italy with suitcases full of money to buy research equipment . It was not possible to buy such equipment officially in Yugoslavia and so that trip was barely legal . The expedition would turn into a nightmare , for the professors were intercepted by the carabinieri , who confiscated three million liras from them and locked them up for several months . It took diplomatic intervention to get them out of prison , but the efforts to get the money back lasted six years . In the end , only half a million liras out of three was returned .
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