, Ljubljana , Ljubljana Vodnik was born in
Zgornja Šiška, now a suburb of
Ljubljana, Slovenia, then part of the
Habsburg monarchy. He was raised in a relatively well-to-do peasant-artisan family. He became a
Franciscan and studied in Ljubljana,
Novo Mesto and
Gorizia, finishing his studies in 1782. He worked as a priest in Ljubljana, in the
Upper Carniolan village of Sora, in
Bled, and in
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
Slovene, which he referred to as
Carniolan. His first poems were published in
Marko Pohlin's collections of Slovene
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. 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
French annexation of the
Slovene Lands. In 1809, he wrote a poem, called
Ilirija oživljena ("
Illyria Reborn"), in which he praised
Napoleon Bonaparte for having established the
Illyrian Provinces. During the short-lived French administration, he was instrumental in convincing the authorities to promote the use of Slovene in education, culture, and administration. After the return of
Austrian rule in 1813, most of these reforms in
language policy were retained, but Vodnik himself was viewed with mistrust. He was retired and removed from public life. He died in Ljubljana at age 60. His gravestone is displayed in the
Navje cemetery. ==Legacy==