OROŽEN Valentin

OROŽEN Valentin (31 January 1808, Šentjur – 4 May 1875, Okonina near Gornji Grad) was a Slovenian priest, poet, and national awakener.

He was born into a farming family in Podgrad near Šentjur. He studied in Šentjur, Celje, and Graz, and completed his theological studies in Klagenfurt (Celovec) and Šentandraž in the Lavant Valley. He was ordained a priest in 1835. As a chaplain and curate, he served in several places in the Savinja and Styrian regions (Pišece, Ljubno ob Savinji, Poljčane, Šmarje pri Jelšah, Podsreda, Pilštanj, Sv. Mihael in the Lavant Valley, Sela near Slovenj Gradec, and Šmartno ob Dreti). In 1864 he suffered a stroke while celebrating mass. He retired in 1872 and died in Okonina near Gornji Grad.

Orožen was a cheerful, sincere, and strongly nationally conscious man. He was a student of Anton Martin Slomšek, who inspired him to write poetry in Slovenian. His poems are simple, heartfelt, and melodic. Among the best known are Moje želje, Vse mine, Lastovici v slovo, Očetova roka, Spomlad, and Napitnica. Many of them became folk songs. He also wrote some prose works and translations (including Mala pevka).

In 1879 his friends published a collection of his works titled Val. Orožnovi spisi. On the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2008, a memorial plaque was unveiled in Šentjur at the site of his birthplace.