József Kossics, also known in Slovene as Jožef Košič (around October 9, 1788, Bogojina,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

– December 26, 1867, Felsőszölnök), was a Hungarian-

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n writer,

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest, ethnologist, linguist and historian. Kossics was born in Bogojina, Moravske Toplice, then part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, now in

. His father József Kossics was a teacher born in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

and his mother Ana Kregar was from a petty noble family. Kossics served as a priest in the first half of the 19th century in

Alsószölnök Alsószölnök (, , ) is a village in Vas County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania ...

and later in Felsőszölnök (1829–1867) in Vas country. He was also a poet, linguist, historian, and ethnologist. He was a subscriber to the early Hungarian scholarly journal ''Tudományos gyűjtemény'' (Scientific Collection, 1817–1841). In 1828, his monograph on the

Hungarian Slovenes Hungarian Slovenes ( Slovene: ''Madžarski Slovenci'', ) are an autochthonous ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in Hungary. The largest groups are the Rába Slovenes (, dialectically: ''vogrski Slovenci, bákerski Slovenci, porábsk ...

appeared in this journal, earning him respect in ethnological circles. Kossics continued to attentively follow developments in Hungarian science and culture. In his pursuit of promoting the special features of ethnic groups, he later became something of an activist. In 1837, he joined an appeal for a poem from every ethnic group living in the

to be read in the respective languages for the opening of the

Hungarian National Theater The National Theatre, located in Budapest originally opened in 1837. Since then, it has occupied several locations, including the original building at Kerepesi Street, the ''People's Theatre'' at Blaha Lujza Square, as well as Hevesi Sándor Sq ...

in Pest. For this purpose, Kossics himself wrote a poem in his native Slovene and added a rough Hungarian translation. Kossics died in 1867 in Felsőszölnök.

References

* Mária Mukics: ''Changing World - The Hungarian Slovenes'' (''Változó Világ'' - ''A magyarországi szlovének'') Press Publica 1788 births 1867 deaths Hungarian ethnologists Slovenian ethnologists Hungarian male poets People from the Municipality of Moravske Toplice 19th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests Slovenian writers and poets in Hungary 19th-century Hungarian poets Slovenian male poets 19th-century Hungarian male writers {{ethnologist-stub

See also

References