Marko Pohlin born Anton Pohlin (13 April 1735 – 4 February 1801), was a 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 especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He is generally considered the first exponent of the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

in the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( sl, Slovenske dežele 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 provi ...

. He was baptized Antonius Puhlin in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the a ...

, in what was then the

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A h ...

in the Habsburg monarchy, born the son of a tavern owner. He studied in Jesuit colleges in

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered ...

and Ljubljana, and joined the

Augustinian order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...

. He is best known for his book ''Kraynska grammatika'' (

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region st ...

n Grammar), a grammar of Slovene written in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. In it, Pohlin attempted to modernize

Adam Bohorič Adam Bohorič () ( – after 20 November 1598) was a Slovene Protestant preacher, teacher and author of the first grammar of Slovene. Bohorič was born in the market town of Reichenburg in the Duchy of Styria (now Brestanica in Sl ...

's sixteenth-century grammar. The work is especially important for its preface, in which Pohlin praised Slovene and rejected those that regarded it as rough and unworthy of being used in literature. Pohlin also composed a Slovene–German–Latin dictionary entitled ''Tu malu besedishe treh jesikov'' (Small Trilingual Dictionary) or ''Dictionarium slavicum carniolicum'' (Slavic-Carniolan Dictionary). In 1779, he published the first issue of ''Pisanice'' (Writings), an almanac of popular songs from Carniola and Carinthia. Pohlin was also the author of the book ''Kraynske kroneke'' (The Carniolan Chronicles, 1770), which is considered the first work of

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...

written in Slovene. In his monograph, republished and enlarged in 1788, Pohlin took as a source the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, stre ...

n humanist historian

Mauro Orbini Mavro Orbini (1563–1614) was a Ragusan chronicler, notable for his work '' The Realm of the Slavs'' (1601) which influenced Slavic ideology and historiography in the later centuries. Life Orbini was born in Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), the capital ...

, who saw the Slavs as the most ancient people in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. Pohlin's historiographic work is considered of little worth but it was important in boosting the ethnic consciousness of his contemporary countymen. He also wrote the first Slovenian bibliography, titled ''Bibliotheca Carnioliae'' or ''Carniolan Library'', which was published posthumously in 1803. Despite the book's regional title, Pohlin also included authors from other Slovene-inhabited regions. He included all books by local authors, regardless of the language they were written in, and also included several works that had remained in manuscript. He also used the occasion to warn his readers of the dangers of

bibliomania Bibliomania can be a symptom of obsessive–compulsive disorder which involves the collecting or even hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged. Bibliomania is not to be confused with bibliophilia, which is the ( ...

, several years before the word became popularized in Great Britain by

John Ferriar John Ferriar (1761 – 4 February 1815), was a Scottish physician and a poet, most noted for his leadership of the Manchester Infirmary, and his studies of the causes of diseases such as typhoid. Background Ferriar was born near Jedburgh, Rox ...

and Thomas Dibdin in 1809. Although Pohlin's linguistic innovations were later rejected by his successors, his ''Kraynska grammatika'' marked the beginning of the revival of Slovene language and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...

, which was later continued in Zois' circle. He died in the monastery of Mariabrunn near

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

References

* Kidrič France
"Pohlin Marko".
Slovenski biografski leksikon. Slovenska biografija. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, 2013.
Father Marko Pohlin Warns against Bibliomania.
''The Fate of Books.'' Accessed on October 27, 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pohlin, Marko 1735 births 1801 deaths Slovenian philologists Slovenian Roman Catholics Artists from Ljubljana Carniolan editors Carniolan Roman Catholics Carniolan philologists People of the Age of Enlightenment Augustinian friars 18th-century German writers 18th-century Carniolan writers 18th-century German male writers