Franz Miklosich (german: Franz

Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "Freiherr" (Baron). As with most titles a ...

von Miklosich, also known in Slovene as ; 20 November 1813 – 7 March 1891) was a Slovene

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Early life

Miklosich was born in the small village of

Radomerščak Radomerščak (, german: Pichelberg) is a settlement in the Municipality of Ljutomer in northeastern Slovenia. The area traditionally belonged to the Styria region and is now included in the Mura Statistical Region. The Slovene philologist Fran ...

near the

Lower Styria Styria ( sl, Štajerska), also Slovenian Styria (''Slovenska Štajerska'') or Lower Styria (''Spodnja Štajerska''; german: Untersteiermark), is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy o ...

n town of Ljutomer, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

, and baptized ''Franz Xav. Mikloschitsh''. He graduated from the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The univers ...

with a doctor of philosophy degree.

Career

He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Graz. In 1838, he went to the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

, where he received a doctor of law decree. During his studies, he became influenced by the works of the Slovenian philologist and linguist

Jernej Kopitar Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...

. He abandoned law, devoting most of his later life to the study of

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...

. In 1844, he obtained a post at the Imperial Library of Vienna, where he remained until 1862. In 1844, he published a review of

Franz Bopp Franz Bopp (; 14 September 1791 – 23 October 1867) was a German linguist known for extensive and pioneering comparative work on Indo-European languages. Early life Bopp was born in Mainz, but the political disarray in the Republic of Mai ...

's book ''Comparative Grammar,'' which attracted attention from the Viennese academic circles. This publication then launched a long series of works, in which Miklosich showed immense erudition. His works led to a revolutionary change in the study of Slavic languages. In 1849 Miklosich was appointed to the newly created chair of Slavic philology at the

, and he occupied it until 1886. He became a member of the Academy of Vienna, which appointed him secretary of its historical and philosophical section, a member of the council of public instruction and of the upper house, and correspondent of the French Academy of Inscriptions and Humanities. His numerous writings deal not only with the Slavic languages, but also with

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

, Aromanian, Albanian,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

From 1872 to 1880, Miklosich published his original survey of Romani dialects, ''Über die Mundarten und Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europas''. This work included a discussion of their origins, migration routes, an historical-comparative grammar, and a lexicon. He identified a substantial Greek element that was shared by the Romani dialects, and thus named a "Greek-speaking area" as the "European homeland of the Gypsies". In 1883, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, he received a medal commissioned by the Austrian Academy of Sciences.http://hdl.handle.net/10900/100742 S. Krmnicek and M. Gaidys, ''Gelehrtenbilder. Altertumswissenschaftler auf Medaillen des 19. Jahrhunderts.'' Begleitband zu
online-Ausstellung im Digitalen Münzkabinett des Instituts für Klassische Archäologie der Universität Tübingen
, in: S. Krmnicek (Hrsg.), ''Von Krösus bis zu König Wilhelm.'' Neue Serie, Bd. 3 (Tübingen 2020), pp. 32–34.

Political engagement

In the

Spring of Nations The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

of 1848, Miklosich, who was 35 at the time, actively engaged in the

Slovene national movement 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 the chairman of the political association, called ''Slovenija'' (Slovenia) organized by Slovene students that studied in Graz and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Together with

Matija Majar Matija Majar, also spelled Majer (7 February 1809 – 31 July 1892), pseudonym Ziljski, was a Carinthian Slovene Roman Catholic priest and political activist, best known as the creator of the idea of a United Slovenia. Biography Majar was born ...

and

Lovro Toman Lovro Toman (10 August 1827 – 15 August 1870) was a Slovene Romantic nationalist revolutionary activist during the Revolution of 1848, known as the person who in Ljubljana, at the Wolf Street 8, raised the Slovene tricolor for the first tim ...

, he was among the authors who elaborated the political demand for a

United Slovenia United Slovenia ( sl, Zedinjena Slovenija or ) is the name originally given to an unrealized political programme of the Slovene national movement, formulated during the Spring of Nations in 1848. The programme demanded (a) unification of all th ...

. After the failure of the revolutionary requests, he again turned to exclusively academic activity.

Selected bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

, p. 186–193) in: Marija Mitrović, ''Die Geschichte der slowenischen Literatur von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Aus dem Serbokroatischen übersetzt, redaktionell bearbeitet und mit ausgewählten Lemmata und Anmerkungen ergänzt von Katja Sturm-Schnabl''. Klagenfurt: Mohorjeva-Hermagoras, 2001. . *Walter Lukan (ed.): ''Franz Miklosich (Miklošič): neue Studien und Materialien anläßlich seines 100. Todestages''. Vienna 1991 (= ''Österreichische Osthefte: Sonderheft 33''). *Katja Sturm-Schnabl, ''Der Briefwechsel Franz Miklosich's mit den Südslaven = Korespondenca Frana Miklošiča z Južnimi Slovani'', Obzorja, Maribor 1991, XXIV, 855 S., . *Katja Sturm-Schnabl, Franz Miklosich als Wegbegleiter bei der Entstehung der ukrainischen Schriftsprache. In: Juliane Besters-Dilger, Michael Moser, Stefan Simonek (eds.), ''Sprache und Literatur der Ukraine zwischen Ost und West – Мова та література України між сходом і заходом''. Bern: Lang 2000, 195–209. *Katja Sturm-Schnabl, Franz Miklosich – ein "Europäer" im 19. Jahrhundert. Short version http://www.inst.at/studies/s_0104_d.htm *Katja Sturm-Schnabl, Fran Miklošič, An Early Visionary of European Integration in Philological Studies. The Difficult Path Towards the Acceptance of the Concept of Diversity and Plurality. http://cf.hum.uva.nl/natlearn/ *Katja Sturm-Schnabl, Aktualnost Miklošičevega znanstvenega dela in misli. In: ''Jezikoslovni zapiski. Glasilo Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU'' 10.2 (2004), 19–46. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miklosich, Franz 1813 births 1891 deaths People from the Municipality of Ljutomer People from the Duchy of Styria Slovenian Roman Catholics Slovene nobility Austrian knights Members of the Imperial Diet (Austria) People of the Revolutions of 1848 Linguists from Slovenia Slovenian philologists Slavists University of Graz alumni Academics of the University of Graz Academics of the University of Vienna Rectors of universities in Austria Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Corresponding Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)

Early life

Career

Political engagement

Selected bibliography

See also

Notes

Further reading