Ivan Krasko (real name Ján Botto, pseudonyms ''Bohdana J. Potokinová'', ''Ivan Krasko'', ''Janko Cigáň'', 12 July 1876 in Lukovištia (''Lukovistye'') – 3 March 1958 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 ...

) was a Slovak poet, translator and representative of

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

in Slovakia.

Biography

He was born into a peasant family in Lukovištia, a village in the Gemer (Gömör) region. He studied at the Hungarian grammar school in

Rimavská Sobota Rimavská Sobota (; hu, Rimaszombat, german: Großsteffelsdorf) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of Gömör és Kishon ...

(Rimaszombat), later at German grammar schools in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

and Braşov, where he graduated. In 1900 he applied for the study of chemical engineering in

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 successfully graduated in 1905. He was a member of the Slovak association Detvan. He worked then for some time as a chemist in the town of

Klobuky Klobuky is a municipality and village in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Čeradice, Kobylníky, Kokovice and Páleček are administrative part ...

, later in a chemical factory in

Slaný Slaný (; german: Schlan) is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administ ...

. When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out, he went to fight on the Eastern Front against the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. After end of the war, he returned to

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

and started working as a politician, becoming a member of parliament and a senator of the Agrarian Party. He mostly lived in

, but in 1943, he moved to

Piešťany Piešťany (; german: Pistyan, hu, Pöstyén, pl, Pieszczany , cs, Píšťany ) is a town in Slovakia. It is located in the western part of the country within the Trnava Region and is the seat of its own district. It is the biggest and best kno ...

, where he lived until 1958. He died on 3 March 1958 in Bratislava, and is interred in Lukovištia. There is a memorial room in Piešťany, opened in 1976, dedicated to his life and work. A street in Piešťany is named after him.

Literary output

He started writing poems during his grammar school studies, but he published first of them only in 1896, called ''Pieseň nášho ľudu'' (app. Song of our folk). He published his works under pseudonym ''Janko Cigáň'' until second half of the 1900s, when he changed his poetical name to Ivan Krasko (Ivan = Ján in Slovak, Russian name and Krasko = after the village of Kraskovo). He has written some more works in the 1910s, but many of his first works were first published in the 1950s. The topics include: social inequality,

Magyarisation Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleithan ...

of the Slovak nation, passivity of young generation and also his personal sadness. He also wanted to write poetic composition about his experience from the World War I and protests against it, but only the introduction was published in 1929 under the name "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" (a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

New Testament quote that reads ''Bože môj, Bože môj, prečo si ma opustil?'' in Slovak and ''My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'' in

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

English).

Works

The names in brackets indicate where the work was first published.

Poetry

*1896 - ''Pieseň nášho ľudu'', poem (

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 ...

) *1902 - ''Deň spásy'', poem (

) *1902 - ''Za búrnej čiernej noci'', poem (

) *1905 / 1906 - ''Lístok'', cycle of poems ( Dennica) *1906 - ''List slečne Ľ. G.'', poem (

) *1906 - ''Jehovah'', poem (

Letopis Živeny ''Letopis'' was a Russian monthly journal published in St Petersburg from December 1915 until December 1917. It had a range of material including literary, scientific and political material. Its political stance was to oppose nationalism and the ...

) *1906 - ''Poznanie'', poem (

) *1909 - ''Nox et solitudo'' (Latin for app. night and loneliness), the first collection of his poetry (introduction was written by Svetozár Hurban Vajanský) *1910 - ''Noc a Ja'', poem in prose (

Prúdy Prúdy is a Slovak rock band formed in the former Czechoslovakia in 1962. The original lineup of the band consisted of Marián Varga on organ and piano, Pavol Hammel on guitar and vocals, Vlado Mallý on drums, Peter Saller on guitar and Fe ...

) *1912 - ''Verše'', second collection of his poetry *1913 - ''Svätopluk'', poem (

Slovenský denník Slovak () , is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken by appro ...

) *1952 - ''Moje piesne'', collection of poems *1961 - ''Nad ránom…'', selection from poetry

Prose

*1907 - ''Naši'', portrait study (

Slovenský obzor Slovak () , is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken by appro ...

) *1908 - ''Sentimentálne príhody I a II'' (later named ''Svadba'' a ''Almužna''), short prose ( Dennica) *1911 - ''List mŕtvemu'' (

) *1932 - ''Archanjel Michal, nástenná maľba v starobylom kostole na Kraskove'', description of part of the fresco decoration (

) *1937 - ''Pôvod dedín Kraskova a Lukovíšť'', study ( Zborník Muzeálnej slovenskej spoločnosti)

Translations

*1910 -

Richard Dehmel Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (18 November 1863 – 8 February 1920) was a German poet and writer. Life A forester's son, Richard Dehmel was born in Hermsdorf near Wendisch Buchholz (now a part of Münchehofe) in the Brandenburg Province, Ki ...

: ''Vôľa k činu'', theoretical essay (

) *1911 -

: ''Príroda, symbol a umenie'', theoretical essay (

) *1956 - ''Tiene na obraze času'', collection of poems translated from the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...

Literature

* (Slovak) {{DEFAULTSORT:Krasko, Ivan Slovak poets Slovak male writers Slovak translators Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 1876 births 1958 deaths Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1920–1925) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1925–1929) Members of the Senate of Czechoslovakia (1929–1935) Members of the Senate of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939) People from Rimavská Sobota District