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A portrait of Sigmund (Žiga) Zois. Slovenian Museum of Natural History.
Drawing by Matjaž Učakar.
TRUE
ENLIGHTENEMENT MAN
Sigmund (Žiga) Zois was born in Trieste.
His father Michelangelo, a Swiss national, had
moved from the Bergamo region to Ljublja-
na, where he was a shopkeeper. He quickly
amassed significant wealth and was made a
baron. He also married a Slovenian noblewom-
an Ivana Kappus nob. Pichelstein, being his sec-
ond marriage. The family moved to Trieste but
returned to Ljubljana when Sigmund was two.
He received a formal education in Ljubljana and
Italy, but also expanded his horizons by travel-
ling through Germany, France, the Netherlands,
and Switzerland. He inherited his father’s title,
along with numerous properties and ironworks.
He died in Ljubljana, where he is buried.
90
The central Enlightenment
figure in Slovenia, patron of the
arts, businessman, mineralogist,
natural scientist, and ornithol-
ogist. Scholarships for talented
young students and the national
award for achievements in sci-
ence are named after him.