Jovan Vesel Koseski

Janez Vesel, (12 September, 1798, – 26 March, 1884) known by his pen name Jovan Koseski (Slovenian conventions also Jovan Vesel Koseski or Jovan Vesel – Koseski, and (less often ) Janez Vesel – Koseski or Janez Vesel Koseski), was a Slovene lawyer and poet.

Born as Janez Vesel in Spodnje Koseze in the Duchy of Carniola in the Habsburg Monarchy (now in Slovenia), Koseski studied law in Graz and Vienna and worked in Trieste for most of his professional life. In his student years he mostly wrote in German. In 1818 his sonnet Potažba was printed and was the first sonnet ever printed in Slovene. No further works by Koseski are known until 1844 when he published his ode Slovenija, dedicated to The Emperor Ferdinand, widely regarded as his best work in which he describes the history of the Slovene lands since Roman times. After this he continued writing and also translating poetry. ^[1]

His ode Slovenja is the earliest known printed use of the word Slovenia to describe the Slovene lands.

He was the grandfather of the Austrian-Italian mountaineer and author Julius Kugy.

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