Ján Samuel Francisci-Rimavský (born Ján Francisci, hu, Francisci János; 1 June 1822 – 7 March 1905) was a Slovak poet, novelist, translator, journalist and politician, who collaborated with the nationalist leader,
Ľudovít Štúr
Ľudovít Velislav Štúr (; hu, Stur Lajos; 28 October 1815 – 12 January 1856), known in his era as Ludevít Štúr, (pen names : B. Dunajský, Bedlivý Ludorob, Boleslav Záhorský, Brat Slovenska, Ein Slave, Ein ungarischer Slave, Karl Wi ...
nad philosophical-legal theorist and ideologist of the Slovak national movement
Štefan Marko Daxner. He used numerous pseudonyms, including Janko Francisci, Janko Rimavský, Slavoľub and Vratislav Rimavský.
Francisci established the tradition of
fairy tale collections (in Slovakia) and also theoretically reflected the genre of
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fo ...
fairy tales. His
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
and
prose
Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...
are first manifestations of the literary
Slovak language
Slovak () , is a West Slavic language of the Czech-Slovak languages, Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of ...
. His
poems
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...
are dominated by
romantic pathos,
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
motifs, motifs of Slovak
nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
,
patriotism, revolutionary-utopian idealism, but critical-social themes. Francisci, together with
Daxner, initiated one of the most important state documents of
Demands of the Slovak Nation
The ''Demands of the Slovak Nation'' ( sk, Žiadosti slovenského národa) was a manifesto issued by Slovak nationalists during the revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. It was prompted by the nationalists' realisation that the Hungarian gov ...
and Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. He was also at the founding of Slovak Matica (
Matica slovenská
Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is a Slovak national, cultural and scientific organization headquartered in Martin, Slovakia. It was founded in 1863 and revived in 1919. The organisation has facilities in the Slovak Republic as well a ...
). Together with the
Janko Kráľ
Janko Kráľ ( hu, Král János; 24 April 1822 in Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš (now Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia) – 23 May 1876 in Zlaté Moravce) was one of the most significant and most radical Slovak romantic poets of the Ľudovít Š ...
,
Ján Rotarides,
Štefan Marko Daxner and
Samuel Štefanovič (before them, for example,
Ján Kollár
Ján Kollár ( hu, Kollár János; 29 July 1793 – 24 January 1852) was a Slovak writer (mainly poet), archaeologist, scientist, priest, politician, and main ideologist of Pan-Slavism.
Life
He studied at the Lutheran Lyceum in Pressburg ( ...
), he belongs to the category of national awakeners (under the influence of
Štúr,
Hegel and
Herder) who thought not only nationally but partly also
internationally and in the spirit of
humanism
Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...
.
[PERNÝ, Lukáš: Cultural and social, literary and philosophical contribution of Ján Francisci. 200th anniversary of the captain of Slovak volunteers, a collector of legends, a poet and an editor. In: Slovak Matica, 2022, https://matica.sk/janko-francisci/]
Biography
He was born to a family of tailors in
Hnúšťa,
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
(present day
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
). From 1834 to 1839, he studied at the "Evangelical Lyceum" in
Levoča
Levoča (; hu, Lőcse; rue, Левоча)
is a town in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia with a population of 14,700. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Gothic church with the highest wooden altar in the wo ...
, then went to
Pressburg (present day Bratislava), where he first met Štúr. In 1843, he passed the candidate's exam in theology and continued his studies at the law college in
Prešov. He worked briefly as a deputy professor at the Lyceum, then became an aide to a member of the
Gömör és Kis-Hont County Council.
[Brief biography](_blank)
by Martin Pliešovský @ the Hnúšťa website.
In 1848, during the
Slovak Uprising, he worked with
Štefan Marko Daxner to organize the National Guard and was briefly sentenced to prison. After his release, he became a captain with the Slovak volunteers.
[Brief biography](_blank)
@ Osobnosti. After the revolution, he worked in
Banská Bystrica, where he got married; then became a county commissioner in
Debrecen
Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...
from 1853 to 1859.
While serving in several other official positions, he was the editor of ''Pešťbudínske vedomosti'' (a twice-weekly political journal based in
Pest) from 1861 to 1863.
That same year, he became an honorary life vice-chairman of the
Matica Slovenská
Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is a Slovak national, cultural and scientific organization headquartered in Martin, Slovakia. It was founded in 1863 and revived in 1919. The organisation has facilities in the Slovak Republic as well a ...
. From 1864 to 1867 he was the county administrator of
Liptó County
Liptó County (, la, Comitatus Liptoviensis, , , ) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northern Slovakia.
Geography
Liptó county shared borders with the Austrian land Galicia and the H ...
, but resigned after the
Austro-Hungarian Compromise
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...
. He then became chief superintendent and inspector of the
gymnasium in
Revúca.
In 1872, he retired to
Martin Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
to become a full-time writer, where he died in 1905.
He also collected Slovak folk and fairy tales, translated
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, and helped edit collections of other writers' works, including those by
Pavol Dobšinský and . His son became a composer who wrote the first opera in Slovak (''Bohatieri veselej družiny'', 1917).
The
Levoča Gymnasium was renamed in his honor in 1988.
Selected writings
In the collection of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
:
* ''Listy Jána Francisciho'' (Letters, edited by Michal Eliáš), V Martine : Matica slovenská, 1990
* ''Iskry zo zaviatej pahreby'' (Sparks from Embers, poetry) Tatran, 1977
* ''Slovenskje povesti'' (Slovak legends) Matica slovenská, 1975
References
External links
Ján Francisci-Rimavský@ Slovenský Portal.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francisci-Rimavsky, Jan
1822 births
1905 deaths
Slovak politicians
Slovak writers
Slovak poets
People from Hnúšťa
Burials at National Cemetery in Martin
People of the Slovak Uprising of 1848–49