Franz de Paula Hladnik (29 March 1773 – 25 November 1844) was a

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region st ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

master. He was born in Idria,

, then in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

(now

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

), the son of a

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

official. He studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some s ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and became a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1796. His weak health prevented him from undertaking parish duties, and in 1796 he became a scribe in the

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

of the

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other Ljubljana#Name, historical names) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city ...

Lyceum, but soon gave this up, and for forty years devoted himself to teaching in the various schools of Ljubljana. In 1803 he was already director of the Normal School and in 1807 prefect of the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper second ...

, a job that he held until his sight failed. In his last years he was blind. He was honoured for his work there by Emperor Francis. During the French annexation under the

Illyrian Provinces The Illyrian Provinces sl, Ilirske province hr, Ilirske provincije sr, Илирске провинције it, Province illirichegerman: Illyrische Provinzen, group=note were an autonomous province of France during the First French Empire that e ...

, Hladnik was appointed professor of botany and natural history at the Central School of Ljubljana, and presented with a piece of land to be laid out for the cultivation of the flora of

. It soon contained 600 kinds of local plants. While occupied with his botanical garden, he also delivered lectures on botany and spent his holidays for thirty years in researching the crownland of Carniola. He died in Ljubljana, bequeathing his botanical collection to the Rudolfinum Public Museum, founded in Ljubljana in 1831. The

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

contains his portrait, painted by Amalija Hermann von Hermannsthal. Among Hladnik's pupils was Alexander Skofitz, the founder of the ''Österreichische botanische Zeitschrift'' (Austrian Botanical Journal). Hladnik discovered several new kinds of plants and certain

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomencl ...

have been named after him. He did not publish any scientific works; his manuscripts now in possession of the Carniola Historical Society are written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, French, and

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

. He was buried at Saint Christopher's Cemetery in Ljubljana.Rozman, Jožef. 1853. Franc Hladnik, bivši vodja ljubljanskega gimnazia in slaven želiščar. ''Drobtince'' 8: 127–133.

References

;Attribution * Cites: **von Wurzbach. ''Biogr. Lexikon des Kaisertums Oesterreich'', IX (Vienna, 1863); {{DEFAULTSORT:Hladnik, Franz 1773 births 1844 deaths Carniolan botanists Catholic clergy scientists Carniolan educators Carniolan Roman Catholic priests Carniolan librarians People from Idrija

See also

References