Knafelj Foundation, Vienna

Contact

Knafljeva ustanova

Seilerstätte 2, A-1010 Wien

http://www.uni-lj.si/o_univerzi_v_ljubljani/organizacija__pravilniki_in_porocila/univerzitetni_objekti/knafljeva_ustanova_na_dunaju/

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The Knafelj Foundation was established in 1676 to financially help students (initially only male students of law, medicine, and philosophy) from Carniola with their studies in Vienna, then Central Europe's most important university city. Today, the foundation still represents an important part of Slovene cultural heritage with the ongoing funding of accommodation in Vienna for Slovene postgraduate students of any faculty within the University of Ljubljana.

History

The foundation is named after Luka Knafelj (1621–1671), a priest born in Ribnica in the Dolenjska region who left his money and property to a scholarship foundation aimed at Carniolan students studying in Vienna, the city where he also worked and died. By the time of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, over 1,200 students had received the funding, including the prominent poet France Prešeren.

In the beginning the foundation was run by a consortium at the University of Vienna. A management committee comprising members from the University of Ljubljana and the Mohorjeva družba publishing house in Klagenfurt with Anton Levstek as trustee have run the institution since 1995.

The aid and support

Every year an open call is published for postgraduates students of all disciplines matriculated at the University of Vienna. The grant covers the monthly rent for student rooms at the Knafelj House, a 19th-century building in Vienna's first district, which hosts also the Slovenian Scientific Institute Vienna.

See also

• Slovenian Scientific Institute Vienna
• Slovenian Culture and Information Centre, Vienna
• Austrian Science and Research Liaison Office (ASRLO), Ljubljana
• University of Ljubljana
• Mohor's Society

External links

• Knafelj Foundation website, University of Ljubljana
  • The list of the recipients of the Knafelj Stipend, 1736-1919 (pdf)
• Knafelj Foundation on Wikipedija (in Slovenian)