Valentin Vodnik

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Valentin Vodnik
Born(1758-02-03)February 3, 1758
Zgornja Šiška, Habsburg monarchy
Died8 January 1819(1819-01-08) (aged 60)
Ljubljana, Austrian Empire
OccupationFriar, priest, teacher, journalist, editor
NationalitySlovenian
Literary movementAge of Enlightenment
Years active1779–1818
Vodnik Monument at Vodnik Square in Ljubljana

Valentin Vodnik (3 February 1758 – 8 January 1819) was a Carniolan priest, journalist and poet of Slovene descent. He was active in the late Enlightenment period. He is well known for his contributions in writing materials that lifted the prestige of the Slovene language creating a standard meant to unify the people of Slovene Lands in a single intelligible tongue.[1] He was also active in geological sciences, where he collaborated with Sigmund Zois in the research of the origin of the Julian Alps. He spent significant time curating his mineral collection consisting of 338 specimens.[2]

Life and work

Vodnik's birthplace in Šiška, Ljubljana
Navje
, Ljubljana

Vodnik was born in

Franciscan and studied in Ljubljana, Novo Mesto and Gorizia
, finishing his studies in 1782.

He worked as a priest in Ljubljana, in the

Ribnica. In 1793 he returned to Ljubljana and joined the intellectual circle of Sigmund Zois, in which several figures of the Slovenian Enlightenment gathered. Zois remained Vodnik's sponsor until his death. In 1797, Vodnik became a professor at the lyceum
in Ljubljana.

Vodnik dedicated himself to writing poetry in

folk songs. Vodnik's poetry was relatively simple, with a generally patriotic and satirical character. One of his most famous poems, "Dramilo" (A Pick-me-up), is a poetic appeal to Slovenes to be proud of their land, language, and heritage. In 1806, he published his first collection of poetry, entitled Pesme za pokušino (Poems for Sampling). He was also the editor of the first Slovenian newspaper Lublanske novice, which was issued twice a week from 1797 to 1800.[5]

In addition to poetry and journalism, Vodnik also wrote grammars, textbooks, and even the first Slovene-language cookbook (Kuharske bukve, 1799) and a translation of a manual for

midwives (Babištvo, "Midwifery"; 1818) by Johann Matoschek
(Slovene: Jan Matoušek; 1790–1820).

In the 1810s, he became a fervent supporter of the

Navje
cemetery.

Legacy

Vodnik is generally regarded as the first real poet in Slovene, as well as the first journalist. In his writings, written in the old

Slovenian dialects to make it more widely understood; his approach included purifying the common lexicon substituting German expressions with more local expressions obtained across many Slovene regions.[1] Although he is rarely praised for being a deep or original poet, his poems convey honest sentiments, and his use of irony is noteworthy. As a member of Sigmund Zois' circle, he helped several younger talents, including France Prešeren, the most important Slovenian poet. After Vodnik's death, Prešeren wrote two elegies
in his memory.

Valentin Vodnik was selected as the main motif for a recent commemorative coin series: the 250th anniversary of the birth of Valentin Vodnik, minted in January 2008. The obverse shows Valentin Vodnik's profile, the bottom portion of the coin is inscribed with the last verse of the poem "Moj spomenik," which in English says:

"No daughter no son, to come after me, enough memory done, my songs sing of me." The same verses are inscribed on the back side of the Vodnik Monument at Vodnik Square[6] and also on his tombstone. The monument was erected in 1889. The bronze statue and the simple pedestal were made by Alojz Gangl. Some elements related to the faithfulness to the Illyrian Provinces were added to the pedestal in 1929.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Seruga, Kaja (7 July 2021). "The 18th-Century Cookbook That Helped Save the Slovene Language". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  2. ^ Legan Ravnikar, Andrerja, ed. (2019). "Oživljeni Vodnik: razprave o Valentinu Vodniku" [The Revived Vodnik: Discussions on Valentin Vodnik] (in Slovenian). Institute of Slovene Language, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, ZRC Publishing House. p. 184.
  3. ^ Stanko Janež (1971). Živan Milisavac (ed.). Jugoslovenski književni leksikon [Yugoslav Literary Lexicon] (in Serbo-Croatian). Novi Sad (SAP Vojvodina, SR Serbia): Matica srpska. p. 572.
  4. ^ Marija Vrečar, Winden – Krainer – Slowenen? : Valentin Vodniks "Lublanske novice" (1797–1800) : Elemente der nationalen Ideologie im Umfeld der ersten Zeitung in slowenischer Sprache(Ljubljana-Klagenfurt-Wien: Hermagoras/Mohorjeva, 1999)
  5. ^ Valentin Vodnik biography (In Slovenian)
  6. ^ "Spomeniki zaslužnim možem" [Monuments to Deserving Men] (in Slovenian). Government Communication Office, Republic of Slovenia. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  7. .

Further reading

  • Janko Kos, Valentin Vodnik (Ljubljana: Partizanska knjiga, 1990)

External links