Priest Michael Georg Joham honoured by minority
Klagenfurt, 12 November - Austrian priest Michael Georg Joham has been honoured by two Slovenian minority organisations with the Einspieler Award for his work benefiting the Slovenian language and co-existence of national communities in the Austrian province of Carinthia.
The National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS) and the Christian Cultural Association (KKZ) presented their annual award at a ceremony in Klagenfurt on Monday evening.
On accepting the award, Joham told the Austrian public broadcaster ORF that Slovenian was not just about a language but culture as a whole, underscoring the importance of the spirit of respect.
Born in Lavanttal (Labotska dolina), an Alpine valley in eastern Carinthia, Joham did not speak Slovenian before becoming a student, but then learnt the language so well he could serve in a bilingual parish of Köttmannsdorf (Kotmara vas) for 20 years, according to RTV Slovenija.
He has also worked to promote coexistence between the two peoples in the German-speaking area. Cherishing bilingualism remains one of his priorities in the Gail valley (Ziljska dolina) where he has been working for two years.
The two organisations have been presenting the award since 1988 to honour German-speaking individuals for their efforts for the Slovenian minority and their understanding of the issues it faces.
Last year the award went to Klagenfurt University professor Georg Gombos for his work in researching and promoting language learning, especially in multilingual kindergartens in Carinthia.
The award is named after Andrej Einspieler (1813-88), a Slovenian priest, politician and author who worked for the equality of Slovenian language and Slovenians in Carinthia, for the coexistence of the Slovenian- and German-speaking communities in the province, for general suffrage and political freedom.
He also served as a member of the Carinthia State Parliament.