Matija Čop (; 26 January 1797 – 6 July 1835), also known in German as Matthias Tschop, was a Slovene linguist, polyglot,

literary historian The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

Biography

Čop was born in the small northern Carniolan town of Žirovnica, in what was then the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

(now in Slovenia), into a relatively wealthy peasant family. He was sent to Ljubljana for primary and secondary schooling and then 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 ...

at the lyceums of Ljubljana and Vienna for three years. In 1817, he returned from Vienna and attended a priest seminary until 1820, when he left it to become a secondary school teacher in

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, Croatia. In 1822 he moved to Lviv (then also part of the Austrian Empire), when he started working as a teacher at the local lyceum, but was soon promoted to assistant professor at Lviv University. In 1827 he returned to Ljubljana, when he was offered a job as a secondary school teacher again. In 1828, he accepted the post of librarian at the Lyceum, which he held full-time after 1831. During his time in Ljubljana, he became a close friend of the poet France Prešeren. He served as his tutor, providing him with information on contemporary developments in European literature. In 1835, at age 38, Čop drowned while swimming in the

Sava River The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

. Prešeren dedicated his major poem ''

The Baptism on the Savica ''The Baptism on the Savica'' ( sl, Krst pri Savici) is a long two-part epic- lyric poem written by the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren. According to the literary historian Marko Juvan, the work may be considered the Slovene national e ...

'' to his late friend.

Influence

With his command of 19 languages (including

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

), Čop was perhaps the most erudite Slovene of his time. Although he did not publish much original work during his lifetime, Čop had a great influence on the later development of

Slovene culture Among the modes of expression of the culture of Slovenia, a nation-state in Central Europe, are music and dance, literature, visual arts, film, and theatre. A number of festivals take place, showcasing music and literature. Dance Ballet Pi ...

. Unlike such contemporaries as the linguist Jernej Kopitar and the poet

Stanko Vraz Stanko Vraz (born Jakob Frass; 30 June 1810 – 20 May 1851) was a Slovenian- Croatian poet. He Slavicized his name to ''Stanko Vraz'' in 1836. Biography Born in the village of Cerovec in Lower Styria, Austrian Empire (today in Slovenia), Vraz ...

, Čop believed in the possibility of the development of a distinctive Slovenian national culture. He can thus be seen as the predecessor of the Slovenian national awakening in the second part of the 19th century. His broad cosmopolitan education enabled him to recognise the poetic talent of France Prešeren, which remained unnoticed by most of his contemporaries, and to advise him on stylistic and linguistic issues. Today, Čop is generally regarded as one of the most important Slovenian intellectuals of the 19th century. Several streets, schools and other institutions throughout Slovenia bear his name, among them the fashionable

Čop Street Čop Street ( sl, Čopova ulica) is a major pedestrian thoroughfare in the center of Ljubljana, Slovenia and regarded as the capital's central promenade. Location The street leads from the Main Post Office () at Slovene Street () to Prešeren S ...

in Ljubljana.

References

Sources

* Fedora Ferluga Petronio, ''Jernej Kopitar - Matija Čop''. Ljubljana: Filozofska fakulteta, 1996. * Janko Kos, ''Matija Čop''. Ljubljana: Partizanska knjiga, 1979.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cop, Matija 1797 births 1835 deaths People from Žirovnica, Žirovnica Carniolan literary historians Carniolan linguists Carniolan literary critics Carniolan philologists Deaths by drowning 19th-century Carniolan writers

Biography

Influence

References

Sources

See also

External links