Štefan Krčméry (pseudonyms ''Eška'', ''Ján Jesom'', ''Ujo Štefan'' et al.) (26 December 1892 – 17 February 1955) was a Slovak poet,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, historian, journalist, translator, and administrator of

Matica slovenská Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is a Slovakia, Slovak national, Culture, cultural and scientific organization headquartered in Martin, Slovakia. It was founded in 1863 and revived in 1919. The organisation has facilities in the Slovaki ...

. He was born in Mosóc (present-day

Mošovce Mošovce ( hu, Mosóc) is one of the largest villages in the historical region of Turiec, currently in the Turčianske Teplice District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. History Many preserved historical buildings are the evidence of th ...

) and died in

Pezinok Pezinok (; hu, Bazin; german: Bösing; lat, Bazinium) is a town in southwestern Slovakia. It is roughly northeast of Bratislava and, as of December 2018, had a population of 23,002. Pezinok lies near the Little Carpathians and thrives mainly ...

Life

Krčméry was born to a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

preacher, the son of a member of the Štúr group, August Horislav Krčméry. He went to primary school in Jasenová (then Alsójeszenő), secondary school in

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...

(then Besztercebánya), and attended a Lutheran

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the th ...

( from 1907 to 1911) in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, where he also studied Lutheran theology (1911–1915). For some time he worked as chaplain in

Krajné Krajné ( hu, Karaj, until 1899 ) is a village and municipality in Myjava District in the Trenčín Region of north-western Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1282. Geography The municipality lies at an a ...

(then Krajna) and in

(then Pozsony), but then left preaching and started working as a literary critic, journalist, poet, historian, theoretician, and organizer of Slovak cultural and awareness activities. From 1918 to 1919 Krčméry edited Národné noviny, worked as the editor-in-chief of

Slovenské pohľady ''Slovenské pohľady'' or ''Slovak views'' was a literary magazine published in 1846, 1847, 1851 and 1852. It was relaunched in 1881, and has been published continuously to the present.Marcel Cornis-Pope & John Neubauer, History of the Literary Cu ...

, and acted as secretary to the reinstated

. From 1920 to 1921 Krčméry undertook a studying trip to Paris together with his wife Hela. Upon his return, he again worked as the secretary of

and was the editor of the renewed

(1922–1932), Knižnica Slovenských pohľadov, and temporarily also Slovenský ochotník, Naše divadlo, Včielka and other magazines. In 1930 he left for 3 months to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, where he took additional courses at the

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

, and received a PhD. In the fall of 1931 he began showing symptoms of

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

, and the next year fell seriously ill. In late 1932 Krčméry stopped editing

and in 1933 resigned from the post of secretary of

. However, he did not stop his

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

work. He was also a member of several cultural and societal institutions (

Matica hrvatska Matica hrvatska ( la, Matrix Croatica) is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyri ...

, Provençal

Félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...

Matica srpska The Matica srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Матица српска, Matica srpska, la, Matrix Serbica, grc, Μάτιτσα Σρπσκα) is the oldest Serbian language independent, non-profit, non-governmental and cultural-scientific Serbian national inst ...

etc.). He moved several times, but was undergoing treatment in

from 1949 until his death. He was buried in

, but his remains were later transferred to the

National Cemetery in Martin The National Cemetery ( sk, Národný cintorín) in Martin, Slovakia is the final resting place of many important personalities of Slovak history. The list includes writers, poets, national activists, pedagogues, etc. The reason why Martin was se ...

Works

Krčméry began publishing in 1913, and contributed to several magazines (

, Dennica, Živena, Národné noviny, Mladé Slovensko etc.). In addition to critical realism he also used elements of

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

; his inspirations included

Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav (2 February 1849 - 8 November 1921) was a Slovak poet, dramatist, translator, and for a short time, member of the Czechoslovak parliament. Originally, he wrote in a traditional style, but later became influenced by pa ...

at the Štúr group, as well as European romantic poets. His most important theoretical work is the two-volume history of Slovak literature: ''150 Years of Slovak Literature'', where he describes many significant personalities of the 18th and 19th centuries.

List of works

Poetry

*1920 – ''Keď sa sloboda rodila'', celebrates the creation of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

*1929 – ''Herbárium'' *1930 – ''Piesne a balady'' *1932 – ''Slovo čisté'' *1944 – ''Pozdrav odmlčaného básnika''

Prose

*1932 – ''Oslobodenie'' *1957 – ''Zimná legenda'' *1972 – ''Ty a Ja'', dedicated to his future wife, Hela Karlovská

Literary science

*1920 – ''Prehľad dejín slovenskej literatúry a vzdelanosti'' *1927 – ''Moyses a Kuzmány'' *1928 – ''Ľudia a knihy'' *1936 – ''Zo slovenskej kymnológie'' *1943 – ''Stopäťdesiat rokov slovenskej literatúry'' *1976 – ''Dejiny literatúry slovenskej''

Other works

*1925 – ''Anthológia szlovák kőltőkből'', anthology of Slovak poetry *1925 – ''Salome'', translation of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

d drama *1944 – ''Z cudzích sadov'', translation of European poetry *1975 – ''Estetické reflexie''

Articles, paragraphs, and reflections

*1922 – ''Slovensko a jeho život literárny'' *1924 – ''Literárne snahy slovenské'' *1926 – ''O možnostiach rozvoja slovenskej literatúry'' *1931 – ''Prozódia štúrovských básnikov'' *1932 – ''Melódia vety a prízvuk v slovenčine'' *1935 – ''Estetika krás prírodných''

Anthologies

*1975 – ''Estetické reflexie'' *1977 – ''Román bez konca''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krcmery, Stefan 1892 births 1955 deaths People from Turčianske Teplice District Slovak Lutherans Slovak philologists Slovak poets Mošovce 20th-century poets Burials at National Cemetery in Martin 20th-century Lutherans 20th-century philologists