Štefan Kociančič and his work in Gorizia, his articles about the Gorizia region in Zgodnja Danica between 1851–1862

Abstract

The article illuminates life and work of the Slovenian priest, polyglot, linguist, librarian and professor Štefan Kociančič, whose life and work was connected with the town of Gorizia, where he lived and worked in the middle of the 19^th century. Theological seminary, where Kociančič spent most of his life being a theological professor and librarian, played a very important role in the reestablishing of the Slovenian identity in the town, where different identities (Italian, Friulan, Slovene) coexisted. Kociančič also played important role in Slovenian language to become one of the public languages in the town. Between 1851 and 1862 he published articles about current affairs going on in Gorizia and its surroundings in the catholic paper Zgodnja danica. His articles represent a very important source of what Gorizia linguistically, historically, nationally and culturally looked like in the middle of the 19^th century. Longer inserts of Kociančič texts were chosen intentionally to show the position of the Slovenian language 150 years ago.