Janez Bleiweis

We would like to introduce to you one of the well-known people of Kranj, Dr. Janez Bleiweis – politician, journalist, doctor and veterinarian.

Watch a short animated film.

5 important facts about him:

→ One of the most important Slovenian politicians of the 19th century, known as the “Father of the Nation”.

→ Publisher of the newspaper Agricultural and Artisan News (Novice).

→ Promoter of education and modernisation of farmers.

→ Promoter of the national idea among Slovenians.

→ There is a commemorative plaque at his birthplace and a bust in the Bleiweis Park in Kranj.

Short curriculum vitae:

Dr. Janez Bleiweis was born on 19 November 1808 into a merchant family in Kranj, on today’s Tavčarjeva Street. He studied medicine in Vienna and after returning to Ljubljana worked as a doctor and veterinarian. In 1843, he founded the newspaper Kmetijske in rokodelske novice (Agricultural and Handicraft News), which he ran as editor until his death. The newspaper was dedicated to promoting the education of farmers and craftsmen and the modernisation of the processes and tools they used, and Bleiweis also introduced a new spelling in the newspaper – gajica, which is still in use today, and some new words in Slovenian – including “vstraniše” for the toilet. At the time of the Spring of Nations in 1848, Bleiweis became more involved in politics as a central representative of the Old Slovene conservative camp and this is way he was called the “Father of the Nation”. He received a title of nobility from Emperor Franz Joseph and chose the name “Knight of Trstenik”, after his family’s place of origin. He died on 29 November 1881 in Ljubljana and is buried in the Navje cemetery in Ljubljana.

Janez Bleiweis, politics and memory:

Being the “Father of the Nation,” Bleiweis was a well-known and widely recognised figure among Slovenians during his lifetime. The celebration of his 70th birthday was a huge event, with thousands of people gathering to pay tribute to him.

As the leader of the conservative group called Old Slovenians, which chose a gradual approach to realising Slovenian national demands, Bleiweis had political opponents in younger members of the national movement – the liberal Young Slovenians, who were more ambitious in their political demands.

After Bleiweis’s death, his reputation declined and he was seen as an overcautious politician. His reputation deteriorated even further after the Second World War, when the socialist authorities portrayed him as a hardened conservative, as someone who hindered rather than promoted the Slovenian national development.

The misinterpretation has spread that he was unable to recognise the greatness of Prešeren’s poetry, preferring instead to publish the lesser patriotic poems of Janez Vesel Koseski in his Novice (but, among other things, he led the campaign for the erection of Prešeren’s tombstone).

It was not until 1982 that a memorial plaque was erected on the front of his birthplace in Kranj. In 1997, his bust was unveiled, and today it stands in the Bleiweis Park.

PHOTO: Fototeka Gorenjskega muzeja