Janez Bleiweis

Who was Janez Bleiweis?

Janez Bleiweis was a Slovene conservative politician, journalist, physician, veterinarian, and public figure. He was the leader of the so-called Old Slovene political movement. Already during his lifetime, he was called father of the nation.

Bleiweis was born in a wealthy merchant family in the Carniolan town of Kranj, then part of the Austrian Empire. Since childhood, he was raised in a bilingual environment. He was fluent in both Slovene and German, as most of the members of the upper middle class in Carniola at the time. He attended the lyceum in Ljubljana before enrolling at the University of Vienna, where he studied medicine. After completing his studies, he worked as a professor of veterinary medicine and pathology in Ljubljana. Bleiweis wrote a number of text from the fields of the veterinary medicine and human health, particularly about infectious diseases.

In 1843, Bleiweis founded the journal Kmetijske in rokodelske novice and edited it until his death in 1881. It dealt with economic, as well as with cultural issues in the Slovene Lands. In the spring of nations of 1848, he became involved in politics and supported the quest of United Slovenia.