
Matija Majar, also spelled Majer (7 February 1809 – 31 July 1892), pseudonym Ziljski, was a
Carinthian Slovene 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 ...
priest and political activist, best known as the creator of the idea of a
United Slovenia.
Biography
Majar was born in the small village of Görtschach () east of
Hermagor-Pressegger See in the
Gail Valley () in southern
Carinthia
Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
, then part of 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 ...
. He was baptized ''Mathias Maar''.
He grew up in a bilingual
Slovene-German environment and then attended the lyceum in
Klagenfurt and in
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
. During his studies in Klagenfurt, he came under the influence of
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 ...
, a Roman Catholic priest and author who propagated the use of
Slovene in the public sphere.
Majar served as a priest in Slovene-speaking parishes in Carinthia, first in
Rosegg and then in the settlement of Camporosso near
Tarvisio in the
Canale Valley (now in Italy). In 1837, he moved back to Klagenfurt, where he first worked in the administration of the
Diocese of Gurk
The Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt (, ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church covering the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. Though named after Gurk Cathedral, the bishop's see since 1787 ...
, and from 1843 as the chaplain of Klagenfurt Cathedral. During his Klagenfurt years, Majar came into contact with several Slovene ethnographers and authors who worked on the revival of the Slovene language and culture, such as
Urban Jarnik,
Anton Janežič,
Matija Ahacel, and
Davorin Trstenjak. Influenced by the
Illyrian Movement
The Illyrian movement (; ) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of the 19th century, around the years of 1835 t ...
in
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
, especially by the Slovene-Croatian poet and activist
Stanko Vraz, Majar started developing
Pan-Slavic ideals.
In the early days of the
revolution of 1848, Majar formulated and published a political manifesto demanding the unification of all
Slovene Lands into one single politically autonomous administrative entity, called
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 ...
. In the following months, Majar's manifesto was elaborated into a program known under the name of ''
United Slovenia''.
Because of his radical political activity, Majar was transferred from Klagenfurt to the remote parish of
Hohenthurn () on the border with
Friuli
Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
. After more than decade in isolation, in 1867 Majar took part in a journey to Moscow later nicknamed the "Slavic Pilgrimage", where he presented the Gail Valley at the Ethnographic Exhibition. Through this four-week absence without leave from his parish he completely fell out with the church authorities. Majar then returned to public life. He even tried to introduce the
Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic, Uralic languages, Uralic, C ...
among Slovenes. He published his ethnographic research in several Russian journals, and in 1870, he was offered tenure as professor in
Odessa
ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
, in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. However, since he was still a Roman Catholic priest, this plan failed as the Russian authorities did not grant him entry to the country. Nevertheless, Majar continued to propagate radical pan-Slavic ideas through the magazine ''Slavjan'' (The Slav), which he had founded in 1873. The magazine had limited success and was closed in 1875. In 1885, Majar moved to
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, where he lived until his death in 1892.
See also
*
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
References
*
Andreas Moritsch, ''Matija Majar-Ziljski''. Ljubljana - Klagenfurt: Mohorjeva družba, 1995.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majar, Matija
19th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests
Slovenian politicians
Carinthian Slovenes
Politicians from Klagenfurt
Constructed language creators
1809 births
1892 deaths