Matija Ahacel, also known in

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 ...

as ''Matthias Achazel'' (24 February 1779 – 23 September 1845), born Matija Kobentar, was a Carinthian 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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

, and collector of

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

s. Ahacel was born in a peasant family in the village of Gorentschach () near the market town of Sankt Jakob im Rosental () in the

Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchies. Car ...

. He worked as professor of mathematics in the

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

in Klagenfurt. He collaborated with Urban Jarnik, Anton Janežič and

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 ...

in preserving the folk traditions of Slovenes in Carinthia and in

Lower Styria Styria (, ), also known as Slovenian Styria (; ) or Lower Styria (; ) to differentiate it from Austrian Styria, is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of St ...

. In 1833 and 1838, he published a collection of folk songs under the title ''Pesme po Koroškim ino Štajarskem znane'' (Songs Known in Carinthia and in

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

"). The third volume was published in 1858 by Slomšek. Ahacel died in Klagenfurt.

References

* ''Slovenski veliki leksikon'' (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 2003) 1779 births 1845 deaths People from Villach-Land People from the Duchy of Carinthia Slovenian philologists 19th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests Carinthian Slovenes {{Slovenia-bio-stub