The historical and religious author Simon Wilfan was born on October 20th, 1802, at Karlovec no. 41 (modern Poljanska cesta 1) in Škofja Loka as the son of the local paint maker Anton Wilfan and his wife Mina Jesenko. Although the register of baptisms spells the family name Bilfan, the family continued to spell it Wilfan until the beginning of the twentieth century. After completing his education in Ljubljana (for a while also attending the same class as France Prešeren, and then studying together with Anton Martin Slomšek and Frederic Baraga), Simon was ordained a priest in 1825 and served as a curate in various places across Upper Carniola. In 1834, he became the chaplain of the 17th Infantry Regiment and in 1838 the parish priest of Kranjska Gora, where he spent the next twenty-eight years of his life. In 1867, he set out for Novo Mesto, where the emperor first appointed him as canon and two years later the twenty-seventh provost of Novo Mesto. He remained in this position until his death on November 4th, 1881. He was buried in the crypt of Novo Mesto’s cathedral, where one can still see his tombstone with his coat of arms.
Wilfan composed religious texts, sermons, and catecheses. He especially endeavored to arrange the cathedral’s archives and significantly expanded its library. In 1876, his work earned him the Order of the Iron Crown (third class), which prompted him to request the title of Austrian nobility. Being childless as a priest, he aimed to transfer his noble title the following year to his nephew Josef Vilfan, then a construction adjunct at the Imperial-Royal Naval Administration in Trieste—but his request was denied. After Josef Vilfan’s death in 1908, the same request was submitted by his son Franz in his own name and on behalf of his brothers Paul, Alfons, and Josef—again, to no avail. The peerage of Simon Wilfan thus became extinct upon his death in 1881.

Sources:
Dolinar, France Martin: Prošti novomeškega kapitlja 1493–1993. Novo mesto, 1993, pp. 139–141.
Rugále, Mariano & Preinfalk, Miha: Blagoslovljeni in prekleti. 1. del: Plemiške rodbine 19. in 20. stoletja na Slovenskem. Ljubljana: Viharnik, 2009, pp. 201–202.
Slovenski biografski leksikon 4. Ljubljana, 1980–91, pp. 471–472.
Štukl, France: Knjiga hiš v Škofji Loki I. Predmestja Karlovec, Trata, Studenec, Kapucinsko predmestje. Škofja Loka, 1981, p. 42.