500th Birthday of Primož Trubar

A side profile of Primož Trubar (1508–1586), Protestant preacher and founder of Slovenian literary tradition; the inscription 'Primož Trubar', the years '1508 · 1586', the state name 'SLOVENIJA', and the year 2008.

Primož Trubar is regarded as the defining figure of Slovenian cultural history — not despite but because of the extraordinary circumstances of his life's work. As a reformist preacher and theologian, born around 1508 in Rašica (in present-day Slovenia), he wrote, in Tübingen, where he was repeatedly forced into exile, the first books ever written in the Slovenian language: the catechism and Abecedarium of 1550. In doing so, he laid the foundation for an independent written language for the Slovenian people at a time when Slovenian was regarded, at best, as a dialect, and Latin and German dominated as the languages of church and administration. His body of work eventually comprised more than twenty titles — including a translation of the New Testament — and for the first time created a binding basis for written Slovenian.

Trubar's significance for Slovenia extends far beyond theology. He created a linguistic foundation on which Slovenian national consciousness could build in the 19th century, and is therefore still revered today as the father of Slovenian literature and a figure of national identification. His motto, "Boshij Lubi Slovenci" — "God's beloved Slovenians" — is considered the earliest testimony to a Slovenian sense of community expressed in the written language. Trubar died in 1586 in Derendingen, in Württemberg, never having permanently regained his homeland. Slovenia honoured him with a 2-euro commemorative coin in 2008 for his 500th birthday — the year in which Slovenia held the EU Council presidency for the first time, thereby becoming visible on the European stage in its own right.