{{Short description|Monument in Ljubljana, Slovenia}} {{multiple image | footer = The Vodnik Monument at Vodnik Square in Ljubljana | align = right
| image1 = Vodnik spomenik square crop.jpg | alt1 = Front side | width1 = 150 | caption1 = Front side
| image2 = V._Vodnik_monument_Ljubljana_back_side_April_2006 square crop 2.jpg | alt2 = Back side | width2 = 150 | caption2 = Back side }} [[File:Proslava ob 120-letnici Napoleonove lIirije 1929.jpg|thumb|Commemoration of the 110th anniversary of Vodnik's death in 1929. For the occasion, Vodnik Square in Ljubljana was adorned with Yugoslav and French flags.]] The '''Vodnik Monument''' ({{langx|sl|Vodnikov spomenik}}) or the '''Monument''' '''to''' '''Valentin Vodnik''' ({{lang|sl|Spomenik Valentinu Vodniku}}) stands at Vodnik Square ({{lang|sl|Vodnikov trg}}) in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, in the immediate vicinity of the Ljubljana Central Market.<ref name="GCO">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukom.gov.si/si/projekti/arhiv_200_let_ilirskih_provinc/povezave_med_drzavama_in_druge_zanimivosti/spomeniki_zasluznim_mozem/ |title=Spomeniki zaslužnim možem |language=sl |trans-title=Monuments to Deserving Men |publisher=Government Communication Office, Republic of Slovenia |access-date=25 July 2012}}</ref> It is dedicated to the Carniolan priest, poet and journalist Valentin Vodnik (1758−1819), a major figure in the Slovene National Awakening.
The monument was proposed by the politician Lovro Toman on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the poet's birth; the effort to erect it was organised by the Writers' Support Society in collaboration with the Slovene Society. The bronze statue was cast in bronze by the young sculptor {{Interlanguage link multi|Alojz Gangl|sl}} (1859−1935)<ref name="GCO" /> between 1887 to 1889 in Vienna, and was unveiled atop a simple stone pedestal on 30 June 1889 with a three-day celebration as the first public Slovene national monument.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-66MN4BNR/?&language=eng |title=Spomeniki 19. stoletja na Slovenskem |language=sl |trans-title=The Monuments of the 19th Century in the Slovene Lands |first=Sonja |last=Žitko Durjava |year=1992 |volume=40 |issue=1 |journal=Kronika |publisher=Section for the History of Places, Association of Historical Societies of Slovenia |pages=23–28}}</ref><ref name="SBL-Gangl">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://nl.ijs.si/fedora/get/sbl:0537/VIEW/ |title=Gangl Alojz |encyclopedia=Slovenski biografski leksikon |editor1=Vide Ogrin, Petra |year=2009 |language=sl |last=Mesesnel |first=France |isbn=978-961-268-001-5 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The pedestal has the bronze inscription reading ''VODNIK.'' on its obverse; the reverse is inscribed with the final verse of Vodnik's 1806 poem ''Moj spomenik'' ("''My Monument''"):<ref name="GCO" />
{{Poem quote|text=Ne hčere ne sina Po meni ne bo. Dovolj je spomina, Me pesmi pojó.|char=|sign=|title=}}
...meaning:
{{Poem quote|text=Neither daughter nor son shall come after me but memory suffices; my songs sing of me.}}
Vodnik had been an ardent supporter of the Napoleonic Illyrian Provinces, which he saw as fostering Slovene ethnic and linguistic consciousness; one of his longest poems was a classicizing ode to Napoleon. To commemorate the 120th anniversary of the establishment of the Provinces,<ref name="GCO" /> France donated<ref>{{cite news |date=1929-10-17 |title=Vodnikov spomenik |trans-title=Vodnik Monument |url=http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-75E7PL0P/? |newspaper=Slovenec: političen list za slovenski narod [Slovenec: the Political Newspaper for the Slovene Nation] |page=4 |language=sl |volume=57 |issue=237 |issn=1408-2381}}</ref> a bronze decoration for the pedestal in 1929; this comprises the letters ''RF'' (for ''République Française'') flanking a fasces surmounted with a hand with two fingers extended in a blessing (a reference to Vodnik's clerical vocation), all enclosed in a laurel wreath, over a scroll with the inscription "''A Vodnik".''
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Vodnik Monument}} <br /> {{Ljubljana}}
{{coord|46|3|2.9|N|14|30|34.33|E|type:landmark_region:SI_dim:10|display=title}}
monument Category:Monuments and memorials in Ljubljana Category:1889 sculptures Category:Illyrian Provinces Category:Statues of writers