Žarko Petan Žarko Petan (27 March 1929 – 2 May 2014) was a Slovenian writer, essayist, screenwriter, and theatre and film director. He is best known as a writer of aphorisms. Petan was born into a relatively wealthy urban middle-class family in Ljubljana, Slovenia, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He spent his childhood in Zagreb, Croatia, where his father owned a hotel in the city centre. In 1940, the family moved to

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

in Slovenia, where they owned a café. After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, they moved to Trieste to escape Nazi German persecution. After the end of World War II, they returned to Maribor. Petan soon entered into conflict with the new Communist regime. In 1949, while serving in the Yugoslav People's Army, he was accused of enemy propaganda and sentenced to 9 years in jail. He was released in 1951, and enrolled in the University of Ljubljana, where he studied economics. After graduation, he enrolled in the

Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television The Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television ( sl, Akademija za gledališče, radio, film in televizijo or AGRFT) is an academy of the University of Ljubljana in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is the only college and graduate school in Slovenia with ...

in Ljubljana, where he studied theatre directing. In the late 1950s, he worked with

Jože Javoršek Jože Javoršek was the pen name of Jože Brejc (October 20, 1920 – September 2, 1990), a Slovenian playwright, writer, poet, translator and essayist.Bojan Štih Bojan Štih (18 February 1923 – 14 October 1986), was a Slovene literary critic, stage director, and essayist. He was one of the most influential figures in modern Slovene theatre after 1945. Štih was born in Ljubljana, where he attended Be� ...

at the Drama theatre in Ljubljana, which was one of the first theatres to introduce the theatre of the absurd on Yugoslav stages. Together with

Dominik Smole Dominik Smole (24 August 1929 – 29 July 1992) was a Slovenian writer and playwright. Biography Smole was born in Ljubljana in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He attended school in Ljubljana and after the end of World War II he was emp ...

, Taras Kermauner and Dane Zajc, he was one of the co-founders of the alternative theatre

Stage 57 Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * S ...

, which challenged the rigid cultural policies of the Titoist regime. After the abolition of the theatre by the authorities in 1964, Petan returned to the established theatres. Between 1992 and 1994, he served as Director General of the Slovenian National Radio and Television Broadcast. Žarko Petan was an extremely prolific writer. He has published more than 60 books in Slovene, and many others in other languages, especially in Croatian. His work has been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages. He died on 2 May 2014.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Petan, Zarko Slovenian film directors Slovenian theatre directors Slovenian screenwriters Male screenwriters Slovenian essayists Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Writers from Maribor Film people from Zagreb Aphorists 1929 births 2014 deaths University of Ljubljana alumni 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century essayists Writers from Zagreb