Ciril Zlobec (4 July 1925 – 24 August 2018) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and former politician. He is best remembered for his poems, publishing several volumes of poetry in his lifetime. In 1990 he became a member of the Presidency of Slovenia at a critical time for Slovene independence.

Life and career

Zlobec was born in 1925 in the village of Ponikve on the

Karst Plateau The Karst Plateau or the Karst region ( sl, Kras, it, Carso), also locally called Karst, is a karst plateau region extending across the border of southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills sur ...

in what was then the

Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...

region of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

. He attended school in

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

and

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

. He was expelled from school in 1941 for writing poetry in Slovene, the use of which was strictly forbidden under the policies of

Fascist Italianization Italianization ( it, italianizzazione; hr, talijanizacija; french: italianisation; sl, poitaljančevanje; german: Italianisierung; el, Ιταλοποίηση) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or a ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was an activist for the Slovene Liberation Front and briefly joined the Partisans. After the war he completed his studies and graduated from the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

in 1953. He worked as a journalist and translator, publishing numerous collections of poetry as well as two novels. In 1989 he was made a member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members o ...

. He rose to public prominence in 1953, as one of the four co-authors of the collection of poetry called "The Poems of the Four" (''Pesmi štirih''). The collection marked a turning point in the Slovene post-war culture, as it represented a break with the hitherto imposition of

Socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

as the sole style in literature. The other three poets who participated in the project were

Kajetan Kovič Kajetan Kovič (21 October 1931 – 7 November 2014) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, and journalist. In 1978, he received the Prešeren Award, the highest artistic award in Slovenia, for his poetry collection ''Labrador.'' Life Kovič ...

Janez Menart Janez Menart () (29 September 1929 – 22 January 2004) was a Slovene poet, best known for his Intimism (Slovene poetry), Intimist poetry. He translated a number of classic French poetry, French and English poetry and drama wor ...

and

Tone Pavček Tone Pavček (; 29 September 1928 – 21 October 2011) was one of the most influential Slovene poets, translators, and essayists from the first post-war generation. He published numerous collections of poetry, well received by readers and cri ...

. Zlobec won the Prešeren Foundation Award in 1965 for his poetry collection ''Najina oaza'' (Our Oasis) and the Grand Prešeren Award in 1982 for his poetry collection ''Glas'' (Voice).Slovenian Ministry of Culture, complete list of the Grand Prešeren Awards recipients
/ref> In the 1970s and 1980s, he also served as the editor of the intellectual and cultural journal ''

Sodobnost ''Sodobnost'' ( Slovene for ''Modernity'' or ''Contemporary Time'') is a Slovenian literary and cultural magazine, established in 1933. It is considered the oldest of currently existing literary magazines in Slovenia. Although ''Sodobnost'' has tr ...

''. In 1990, Zlobec joined the

Socialist Party of Slovenia The Socialist Party of Slovenia ( sl, Socialistična stranka Slovenije, abbreviated SSS) was a political party in Slovenia. It was founded in 1990, as the successor of the Socialist Union of Working People of Slovenia (which in January 1990 had bro ...

and ran successfully for the Slovenian Presidency, an advisory body to the President of the Republic. He was considered a close ally of the President

Milan Kučan Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovene politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 23 December 1991 until 22 December 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of the Presidency of SR Slov ...

. After 1992, he retired from political life. He was the father of the activist, author, translator and politician Jaša Zlobec.

Poetry collections

* ''Pesmi štirih'' (1953) co-authored with

and

* ''Pobeglo otroštvo'' (1957) * ''Ljubezen'' (1958) * ''Najina oaza'' (1964) * ''Pesmi jeze in ljubezni'' (1968) * ''Čudovita pustolovščina'' (1971) * ''Dve žgoči sonci'' (1973) * ''Vračanja na Kras'' (1974) * ''Kras'' (1976) * ''Pesmi'' (1979) * ''Glas'' (1980) * ''Pesmi ljubezni'' (1981) * ''Beseda'' (1985) * ''Nove pesmi'' (1985) * ''Rod'' (1988) * ''Moja kratka večnost'' (1990) * ''Ljubezen dvoedina'' (1993) * ''Stopnice k tebi'' (1995) * ''Skoraj himne'' (1995) * ''Ti – jaz – midva'' (1995) * ''Mojih sedemdeset'' (1995) * ''Samo ta dan imam'' (2000) * ''Čudež telovzetja'' (2004)

Novels

* ''Moška leta našega otroštva'' (1962) * ''Moj brat svetnik'' (1970) * ''Spomin kot zgodba'', autobiographical novel, (1998)

References

External links

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zlobec, Ciril 1925 births 2018 deaths Slovenian poets Slovenian male poets Slovenian journalists Slovenian translators Prešeren Award laureates Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Veronika Award laureates Yugoslav Partisans members Ethnic Slovene people University of Ljubljana alumni Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts 20th-century translators People from the Municipality of Sežana Burials at Žale