Primož Trubar

Primož Trubar or Primus Truber#tag:ref| Primož Trubar used the version Primus Truber throughout his life, except in 1550, when he used Trubar. was a Slovene Protestant Reformer of the Lutheran tradition, mostly known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book, the founder and the first superintendent of the Protestant Church of the Duchy of Carniola, and for consolidating the Slovenian language. Trubar introduced The Reformation in Slovenia, leading the Austrian Habsburgs to wage the Counter-Reformation, which a small Protestant community survived. Trubar is a key figure of Slovenian history and in many aspects a major historical personality.

Life and work Trubar was born in the village of Rašica (now in the Municipality of Velike Lašče) in the Duchy of Carniola, then under the Habsburgs. In the years 1520–1521 he attended school in Rijeka, In 1527 the bishop Pietro Bonomo assigned Trubar a priest position in Loka pri Zidanem Mostu. It was the language of Ljubljana that Trubar took as a foundation of what later became standard Slovene, with small addition of his native speech, that is Lower Carniolan dialect. His decision to write in Ljubljana's variety was later adopted also by other Protestant writers, who also lived in Ljubljana during Trubar's time. He gradually leaned towards Protestantism and was expelled from Ljubljana in 1547.

In 1550, while a Protestant preacher in Rothenburg, he wrote the first two books in Slovene, Catechismus and Abecedarium, which were then printed that year in Schwäbisch Hall by Peter Frentz. Catechismus also contained the first Slovene musical manuscript in print.

Altogether, Trubar authored 22 books in Slovene and two books in German. He was the first to translate parts of the Bible into Slovene. After the exhortation by Pier Paolo Vergerio, he translated the Gospel of Matthew in 1555 and until 1577 in three parts published the translation of the entire New Testament.

Trubar died in Derendingen, Holy Roman Empire (now part of the city of Tübingen, Germany), where he is also buried.

Commemoration The monument to Primož Trubar by Franc Berneker. White marble, 1910. The statue stands in Trubar Park opposite the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana. On June 4, 1952, the street Šentpeterska cesta in Ljubljana was renamed Trubarjeva cesta after Trubar. It is one of the oldest roads in the city, first mentioned in 1802, and starts in Prešernov trg (Prešeren Square), named after Slovenia's national poet. The street is currently known for its high concentration of ethnic restaurants.

In 1986, Slovene television produced a TV series, directed by Andrej Strojan with the screenplay written by Drago Jančar, in which Trubar was played by the Slovene actor Polde Bibič.

Trubar was commemorated on the 10 tolar banknote in 1992, and on the Slovene 1 euro coin in 2007. In 2008, the Government of Slovenia proclaimed the Year of Primož Trubar and the 500th anniversary of Trubar's birth was celebrated throughout the country. A commemorative €2 coin and a postage stamp were issued. An exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Primož Trubar, and the achievements of the Slovene Reformation Movement was on display at the National Museum of Slovenia from 6 March to 31 December 2008.

In 2009, the Trubar Forum Association printed Trubar's Catechism and Abecedarium in modern Slovene, in a scholarly edition that includes both the Trubar-era Slovene and the modern Slovene translation with scholarly notes. The "Sermon on Faith", a portion of the Catechism, is available in modern Slovene, English, German and Esperanto.

Since 2010, 8 June is commemorated in Slovenia as Primož Trubar Day. Google celebrated his 505th birthday anniversary with a dedicated Google Doodle.