30 euro - 250th anniversary of the birth of Valentin Vodnik

Valentin Vodnik was born in Ljubljana on 3 February 1758. Vodnik was educated at secondary school in Ljubljana and the Novo Mesto monastery. He completed theological studies in 1782. As a priest, Vodnik served in Ljubljana, Bled, and Koprivnik nad Bohinjem where he met Žiga Zois who helped him return to Ljubljana. In 1797 he became a secondary school professor. Following the arrival of the French to Slovenian territory, Vodnik was a great supporter of the new authority. Following the end of the occupation, he was forced to retire. He died in Ljubljana in 1819.

Vodnik's name is linked to the Slovenian Enlightenment, literary history, history and journalism. He published his first poems (Zadovolni Krajnc, Pesma na moje rojake) in Marko Pohlin's collection, Pisanice. In 1806 he published the first Slovenian collection of poems, Pesme za pokušino, followed by Pesmi za brambovce. Vodnik was editor of Velika praktika and the first Slovenian newspaper, Ljubljanske novice. Besides artistic creations, he also wrote educational and popular work and collected dictionary material. He published the first Slovenian language grammar book, Pismenost ali gramatika za prve šole (1811) and Abeceda in azbuka (1812). In 1799 a cook book, Kuharske bukve, was published, followed by Babištvo, a handbook for midwives in 1818.

In honour of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Valentin Vodnik, the Republic of Slovenia has issued collectors coins with Valentin Vodnik's profile as the central motif. The bottom portion of the coin is inscribed with the last verse of the poem Moj spomenik: NE HČERE NE SINA PO MENI NE BO, DOVOLJ JE SPOMINA: ME PESMI POJÓ. (NO DAUGHTER, NO SON WILL FOLLOW ME, MEMORY IS ENOUGH: SONGS SUNG OF ME).