Blasius Kozenn

It was one of the most commonly used atlases in the Austrian half of Austria-Hungary.

• Name — Blasius Kozenn • Born — 24 January 1821 • Birthplace — Hotunje, Austrian Empire • Died — 29 May 1871 • Place of death — Hernals, Austria-Hungary • Education — Mathematics, physics, natural history • Alma Mater — University of Vienna • Occupation — Cartographer

Blasius Kozenn was born into a poor farming family in the village of Hotunje, not far from Ponikva, and baptized Blash Kozen. After attending elementary school in Ponikva, he attended the upper secondary school in Celje, where he was accepted through the efforts of his elementary school teacher. He continued his studies in Graz and Klagenfurt, where he studied theology. He was ordained a priest in 1845. Kozenn served as a curate in Rogatec from 1849 to 1850. From 1850 to 1852 he held the position of assistant instructor (Supplent) at the Celje upper secondary school. After this he traveled to Vienna, where he studied mathematics, physics, and natural history at the University of Vienna, passing his teaching exams in these subjects with distinction. In 1854 he was accepted into the civil service and became an upper secondary school instructor, first in Ljubljana, and then from 1855 to 1858 in Gorizia. This was where he wrote his Grundzüge der Geographie für die 1. Classe der Mittel- und Bürgerschulen (Essentials of Geography for the First Class of High School; first published in 1858 in Budapest and Vienna) and his study Das Klima von Görz (The Climate of Gorizia). In 1858 he started teaching at the German-language Imperial Upper Secondary School in Olomouc, where he remained until his early retirement in 1870. He was active in the introduction of the new Realschule secondary school, and in 1863 he was named a member of the school inspectorate. As a result of poor health, he moved from Olomouc to the Vienna suburb of Hernals, where he died at his home on Stiftsgasse (since 1894 Geblergasse) from typhoid fever on 29 May 1871 at the age of 50.