Draft:Kozma Ahačič

Kozma Ahačič, a Slovenian linguist and literary historian, born on April 27, 1976, in Kranj, Slovenia.

Life and Work
He attended elementary school in Križe near Tržič and in Škofja Loka. He graduated from Poljane Gymnasium in Ljubljana in 1995 and completed his studies at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana in 2002 (A-Slovenian language and literature, A-Latin language and literature). He also attended two years at the Secondary School of Music and Ballet in Ljubljana (guitar). In the academic year 2002/2003, he began his postgraduate master's studies in Slovenian language and literature, and in 2007, he obtained his PhD with a dissertation on Thought on Language and Literature in Slovenian 16th-Century Protestant Writers ''. Since his second year at the university, he taught Latin at Škofja Loka Gymnasium, and since 2003, he has been employed at the Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language at the Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU) – initially as a young researcher, now as a scientific advisor and head (since October 2018).

He leads the program group at the Institute and prepares the Dictionary of the 16th Century Slovenian Literary Language. He conducted a postdoctoral project on the linguistic and sociolinguistic characteristics of language thought in Slovenia between 1607 and 1758, led projects on integrating selected Slovenian grammars into the international CTLF database, preparing a portal of Slovenian grammars and orthographies, and currently leads the Franček online portal project, a language advisory service for teachers and a school dictionary of the Slovenian language. He is a co-editor of the journal Slovenski jezik/Slovene Linguistic Studies and a member of the editorial board of Jezikoslovni zapiski, published by the Institute. He has edited works on the history of the Slovenian literary language by Breda Pogorelec and critical editions of several works by Primož Trubar. He is the initiator and editor of the Fran online portals, which provide access to all major dictionaries of the Slovenian language, and Slovenian grammars and orthographies. Since 2016, he has been a regular member of the L’Institut d’études slaves in Paris.

In his research, he focuses on the history of linguistics and grammar, historical sociolinguistics, translation studies, rhetoric, and concepts of artificial languages. He published his first monograph on the poetic work of Jovan Vesel Koseski in 2007. His second monograph, based on his doctoral dissertation, titled History of Thought on Language and Literature in Slovenia: Protestantism was published in 2007. This content was continued in the monograph History of Thought on Language in Slovenia: The Catholic Period (2012). An English version of his work, The History of Linguistic Thought and Language Use in 16th Century Slovenia, was published in 2014. In the Trubar Year of 2008, he prepared an edition of Primož Trubar's works for young readers, Primož Trubar.doc, and a translation of Trubar's Abecednik into modern Slovenian. The following year, a critical edition of the Catechism followed, and in 2014, a critical edition of the Church Ordinance. In 2021, he published a monumental work Stati inu obstati: The First Fifty Slovenian Books in a bibliophilic edition. This work describes all Slovenian books from the first, Primož Trubar's Catechism of 1550, to the fiftieth, Hieronymus Megiser's Thesaurus polyglottus of 1603, with photographs and descriptions of each book, including their historical, linguistic, literary, and cultural significance. The work will be released in a more accessible edition in 2024.

Since October 2014, he has been lecturing at the Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU. From February 2007 to September 2017, he lectured at the Faculty of Humanities in Nova Gorica (since 2015 as an associate professor), and from April 2008 to June 2013 at the Department of Translation at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. In the summer semester of the 2010/2011 academic year, he taught the history of the Slovenian language as a visiting professor at the Alpen-Adria-Universität in Klagenfurt, Austria. From December 2023 to May 2024, he served as the acting dean of the Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU. He has been a member of the Expert Commission for the Slovenian Language at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports (from August 2012 to August 2013) and its member since 2019. From 2009 to 2011, he was a member of the language group for the White Paper on Education in the Republic of Slovenia. From 2011 to 2013, he was a member of the Slovenian Language Subject Committee at the National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (ZRSŠ) and a member of the expert council of the Stanislav Škrabec Foundation. Since 2014, he has been a member of the Development Subject Group for Slovenian at ZRSŠ, since 2023 a member of the Curriculum Commission for Slovenian at ZRSŠ, where he is also preparing a new curriculum for the Slovenian language. From 2020 to 2023, he was a member of the Expert Council for General Education. He was a member of the program committee for the symposia Obdobja 28, 30, and 34, the 7th, 8th, and 9th Škrabec Days, and the secretary of the symposium Slovenian Literary Language in the 16th Century. In 2024, he led the organization of the 20th international conference of the EFNIL association (European Federation of National Institutions for Language), which included a major event United by Languages in Ljubljana.

He is the conceptual author and co-author of the textbook series Moč jezika 1-4. For the high school textbook Govorica jezika, he wrote a chapter on the history of the Slovenian language and sociolinguistics.

In 2017, he published Slovenian grammars for primary and secondary schools, Kratkoslovnica and Slovnica na kvadrat, for which he received the Apple of Inspiration award, and the same year, he also received the Golden Emblem of ZRC SAZU. He was named Delova Person of the Year and ranked 25th on the list of the most influential Slovenians. In 2020, he received the Zois Award.

He is also active as a poet, librettist, screenwriter, and has been writing regular columns for the newspaper Delo since 2018. Since 2020, he has been a member of the Slovenian Writers' Association.

Awards and Honors
He has received the following awards and recognitions:
 * International Pretnar Award (2023) – Ambassador of the Slovenian language.
 * Zois Award (2020) for research on the Slovenian linguistic past and present and innovative presentations of scientific achievements to various users.
 * Nomination for the Rožančeva Award for the book Kozmologija.
 * Delo Personality of the Year 2017.
 * Trubar’s Award for longstanding collaboration in evaluation of Slovenian Protestantism and enhancing the reputation of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Slovenia (2017).
 * Apple of Inspiration for the grammars Kratkoslovnica and Slovnica na kvadrat (President of the Republic of Slovenia Award, 2017).
 * ZRC SAZU Golden Emblem for resounding scientific achievements in the field of history of Slovenian linguistics and for designing the conceptual structure and graphic layout of the portal Fran (2017).
 * Name of the Month March on Val 202 (2017).
 * Name of the Month October on Val 202 (2016).
 * Golden Pear for the book Jezični možje: Zgodba o slovenskem jeziku (2015).
 * Trubar Recognition for exceptional contributions to preserving Slovenian written heritage, awarded by the National and University Library in Ljubljana (November 3, 2014).
 * Major Award of the Slovenian Book Fair: Special Recognition of the Slovenian Book Fair for the electronic book of the year 2014: the Fran website (as editor), Slovenian Book Fair in Ljubljana (November 31, 2014).
 * Golden Pear award for the book Primož Trubar.doc (2008).
 * Scholarship from the Stanislav Škrabec Foundation (2004).

Major Works

 * 2021. Stati inu obstati: Prvih petdeset slovenskih knjig. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 2021.
 * 2020. Kozmologija. NM, Goga, 2020.
 * 2017. Kratkoslovnica: slovenska slovnica za osnovno šolo. Ljubljana: Rokus Klett, 2017. [COBISS.SI-ID 289028096]
 * 2017. Slovnica na kvadrat: slovenska slovnica za srednjo šolo. Ljubljana: Rokus Klett, 2017. [COBISS.SI-ID 289028608]
 * 2015. Jezični možje: zgodba o slovenskem jeziku. Ljubljana: Rokus Klett, 2015. [COBISS.SI-ID 21725237]
 * 2014. Primož Trubar: Cerkveni red (1564): znanstvenokritična izdaja dela Cerkovna ordninga z znotrajjezikovnim prevodom v sodobni slovenski knjižni jezik, (Zbirka Trubar v sodobnem jeziku, zv. 3). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC. 558 str. [COBISS.SI-ID 275600384]
 * 2014. The history of linguistic thought and language use in 16th century Slovenia. Frankfurt am Main [etc.]: P. Lang. 329 str. [COBISS.SI-ID 36854573]
 * 2012. Zgodovina misli o jeziku na Slovenskem: katoliška doba (1600-1758), (Zbirka Linguistica et philologica, 28). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. 278 str., ilustr. ISBN 978-961-254-378-5. [COBISS.SI-ID 262477056]
 * 2011. Kozma Ahačič, Andreja Legan Ravnikar, Majda Merše, Jožica Narat, France Novak: Besedje slovenskega knjižnega jezika 16. stoletja. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. 641 str. [COBISS.SI-ID 254810112]
 * 2011. Ti si čarovnica, jaz sem grobar: pesmi. Ljubljana, Celje: Društvo Mohorjeva družba, Celjska Mohorjeva založba.
 * 2009. Primož Trubar: Katekizem (1550): v sodobni knjižni slovenščini. Slovenj Gradec: Združenje Trubarjev forum. 278 str. [COBISS.SI-ID 247318272]
 * 2008. Abecednik (1550) prevod v sodobni jezik, (Zbirka Trubar v sodobnem jeziku, zv. 1). Slovenj Gradec: Združenje Trubarjev forum. 56 str. [COBISS.SI-ID 241235456]
 * 2008. Primož Trubar.doc: za domišljijsko potovanje in domače branje (izbor odlomkov iz del Primoža Trubarja). Ljubljana: Rokus Klett. 158 str. [COBISS.SI-ID 238048768]
 * 2007. Zgodovina misli o jeziku in književnosti na Slovenskem: protestantizem, (Zbirka Linguistica et philologica, 18). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. 416 str. [COBISS.SI-ID 234826496]
 * 2006. Izvirne slovenske pesmi Jovana Vesela Koseskega: vsebinski opis, okoliščine nastanka, pregled ocen, jezik, tekstnokritični aparat ter diplomatični in kritični prepis pesmi 1818-1852, (Slavistična knjižnica, 9). Ljubljana: Slavistično društvo Slovenije, 2006. 195 str., tabele. ISBN 961-91015-6-1. ISBN 978-961-91015-6-8. [COBISS.SI-ID 229450496]

Literary Work
In 1991, he published the poetry collection Skodelice iz vodnjaka misli. In 2011, the poetry collection Ti si čarovnica, jaz sem grobar was published. In 2015, together with illustrator Jaka Vukotič, he prepared a picture book about the history of the Slovenian language Jezični možje: zgodba o slovenskem jeziku. In 2020, he published a book of essays Kozmologija, which received good critical acclaim and was among the nominees for the Rožančeva Award.