Melik was born in the village of
Črna Vas in
Carniola, part of
Austria-Hungary. Before and during
World War I, he studied at the
University of Vienna, graduating in 1916 in
history and
geography. Later he was employed as a
secondary school teacher. In 1926–1927 he became an associate professor at the
Faculty of Arts of the
University of Ljubljana, in 1932 a senior lecturer, and then in 1938 a professor. In 1927 he received his PhD from the Faculty of Arts with his
dissertation on the settlement of the
Ljubljana Marsh. Between 1938 and 1966, he was a professor of
geomorphology at the Department of Geography at the
University of Ljubljana, succeeding professor
Artur Gavazzi in 1938. With his work in this field he established his well-known geomorphological school. In 1935–1936, the publishing house
Slovenska matica published his monumental work
Geografija Slovenije (The Geography of Slovenia) in two volumes with a general regional part, later extended with four additional books between 1954 and 1960, with a detailed regional description of particular areas of
Slovenia: the
Alps,
Styria with
Prekmurje and the
Meža Valley, the
Lower Sava Valley, and the
Slovenian Littoral. Between 1947 and 1960, Melik was head of the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Arts. Between 1948 and 1966, he was head of the Geographical Institute of the
Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Between 1946/1947 and 1949/1950, he was chancellor of the University of Ljubljana, and he served twice as dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1940/1941 and 1945/1946. He retired in 1966. He died in Ljubljana. In 1976, the Geographical Institute of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, founded in 1946, was renamed the
Anton Melik Geographical Institute in his honor. ==Family==