The Celje First Grammar School () is a coeducational nondenominational state secondary general education school for students aged between 15 and 19 in

Celje Celje (, , ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, third-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. Th ...

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 ...

. It was the first high school built in the region, established in 1808 by the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. Initially, the language of instruction was only

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, although the great majority of the pupils came from the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provinces, the Austrian Empi ...

. In 1895, the first classes with Slovene as the language of instruction were established.

German nationalists German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and of the Germanosphere into one unified nation-state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans a ...

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 ...

fiercely opposed this move, which resulted in a government crisis and fall of the cabinet of prince Alfred III. zu Windisch-Grätz. After the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the formation of the

State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs ( / ; ) was a political entity that was constituted in October 1918, at the end of World War I, by Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (Prečani (Serbs), Prečani) residing in what were the southernmost parts of th ...

(later

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

), the high school switched to Slovene as the language of instruction. During its 200-year history, many of its pupils have become prominent individuals.

Notable alumni

Anton Aškerc Anton Aškerc (; 9 January 1856 – 10 June 1912) was a Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest who worked in Austria, best known for his epic poems. Aškerc was born into a peasant family near the town of Rimske Toplice in the Duchy of Styria, ...

(1856–1912), poet * Anton Bezenšek (1854–1915),

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to Cursive, longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Gr ...

expert and author * Ljerka Bizilj (b. 1953), TV host * Franjo Bobinac (b. 1958), manager * Matej Bor (1913–1993), poet * Marija Boršnik (1906–1982), literary historian * Janez Cvirn (b. 1960), historian * Gregor Čremošnik (1890–1958), historian * Karel Destovnik Kajuh (1922–1944), poet * Anžej Dežan (b. 1987), singer * Julius Glowacki (1846–1915), natural scientist * Igor Grdina (b. 1965), historian * Benjamin Ipavec (1829–1909), physician and composer * Romana Jordan Cizelj (b. 1966), physicist and politician,

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

Matjaž Kmecl Matjaž or Matjaz is a given name. It may refer to: *King Matjaž, legendary king in Slovenia, as well as Croatia and elsewhere * Matjaž Brumen (born 1982), Slovenian handball player * Matjaž Ceraj (born 1983), Slovenian judoka * Matjaž Cvikl (1 ...

(b. 1934), literary historian and critic * Marianne Elisabeth Lloyd-Dolbey (1919–1994), personal secretary to the Sultan of Brunei

Omar Ali Saifuddien III Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien (Jawi script, Jawi: ; 23 September 1914 – 7 September 1986) was the 28th Sultan of Brunei, reigning from 1950 until his abdication in 1967 to his oldest son, Hassanal Bolkiah. Over the course of his ...

Franjo Malgaj Franjo Malgaj (November 10, 1894 – May 6, 1919) was a Slovenian soldier, military leader and poet. He was an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, he became one of the comm ...

(1894–1919), military hero * Miloš Mikeln (1930–2014), author * Anton Novačan (1887–1951), author, diplomat and politician *

Franc Ksaver Meško The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century, ...

(1874–1864), author * Aleš Pipan (b. 1959), basketball coach * Maks Pleteršnik (1840–1923), linguist and philologian * Bojan Prašnikar (b. 1953), football coach *

Tanja Ribič Tanja Ribič (born 28 June 1968) is a Slovenian actress and singer. Biography Ribič graduated from the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana. She has been a member of Ljubljana City Theatre since 1992. She represented ...

(b. 1968), actress and singer * Jurij Sadar (b. 1962), architect * Zmago Sagadin (b. 1952), basketball coach * Lavoslav Schwentner (1865–1952), editor * Mojmir Sepe (1930–2020),

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, conductor,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

* Blessed

Anton Martin Slomšek Beatification, Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek (26 November 1800 – 24 September 1862) was a Slovene Catholic Church, Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Lavant from 1846 until his death. He served also as an author and poet as wel ...

(1800–1862),

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop *

Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20, on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she became the No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding thi ...

(b. 1981),

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player *

Bojan Šrot Bojan Šrot (born 9 February 1960 in Celje, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Slovenian politician, judge, lawyer, and Mountaineering, mountaineer. He served for six terms as Mayor of the City Municipality of Celje. Early life, education, and m ...

(b. 1959), politician * Beno Udrih (b. 1982),

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player *

Bogumil Vošnjak Bogumil Vošnjak, also known as Bogomil Vošnjak (9 September 1882 – 18 June 1955), was a Slovenes, Slovene and Yugoslavia, Yugoslav jurist, politician, diplomat, author, and Legal history, legal historian. He often wrote under the pseudonym Il ...

(1882–1955), jurist, politician, diplomat, historian * Josip Vošnjak (1834–1911), politician, physician and author * Anton Aloys Wolf (1802–1871), Roman Catholic bishop of Ljubljana, lexicographer * Marko Šuštaršič (1927–1976), painter

External links

www.prvagim.si
(page in Slovene)

Sources

Article on Encyclopædia Britannica, referring to the 1895 Government Crisis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celje First Grammar School Secondary schools in Slovenia