Tone Čufar (14 November 1905 – 11 August 1942) was a Slovene

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Biography

Tone Čufar was born in

Jesenice Jesenice (, german: Aßling''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is a Slovenian town and the seat of the Municipality of Jesenice on the ...

as the third son of a factory

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

. Because of his poor health his parents sent him to work as a

shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

with his uncle in

Bohinjska Bela Bohinjska Bela () is a village in the Municipality of Bled in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. Geography Bohinjska Bela lies on the left bank of the Sava Bohinjka River, southwest of Bled. The oldest part of the settlement, locally known a ...

. This and the outbreak of the World War I (1914–1918) meant that he did not attend school regularly and had no formal education. He was eventually trained to be a carpenter in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

and returned to Jesenice after his training. He joined the

Young Communist League of Yugoslavia , SKOJ mk, Сојуз на комунистичката младина на Југославија, СКМЈ sl, Zveza komunistične mladine Jugoslavije, ZKMJ , colorcode = red , founded = 1919 , dissolved = 1948 , succeeded by = League of S ...

in 1929. In 1932, he joined the Slovene Social Writers' Club and decided to make a living through writing. He also began working as a journalist and an editor. In 1936, he was arrested and imprisoned in Ljubljana for his activities in the workers' movement. He was sent to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

to serve a one-year prison sentence and lost his citizen's rights for a further five years. He later 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 ...

and worked for a local newspaper. After the outbreak of

World War II 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 fled to Ljubljana, where he soon became active in the Slovene Liberation Front. He was arrested by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

authorities in Ljubljana and sent to the

Gonars concentration camp The Gonars concentration camp was one of the several Italian concentration camps and it was established on February 23, 1942, near Gonars, Italy. Many internees were transferred to this camp from the other Italian concentration camp, Rab concentr ...

. On 10 August 1942, the authorities moved him and some other prisoners to Šentvid near Ljubljana in order to hand them over to the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. He tried to escape and was shot.

Work

Most of Čufar's works have a working-class theme.

Poetry

* ('Factory') * ('From the Jesenice Factory') * ('We, the Proletarian Youth') * ('Sun Prayer') * ('Steel-Reinforced Concrete') * ('Pioneers of the New World') * ('To a Young Female Detainee')

Prose

* ('Tragedy in the Cellar') * ('Maria Would Like to Live') * ('New Track') * ('Under the Hammer') * ('Girl from the District') * ('Factory')

Plays

* ('Red Dawn') * ('Disaster') * ('American Theft') * ('Love in the Cellar') * ('Little Babylon')

Commemoration

Three elementary schools, in Jesenice, in Ljubljana, and in Maribor, are named after Čufar. In addition, the theatre in Jesenice is named Tone Čufar Theatre. In the second half of the 20th century, three bronze busts of Tone Čufar were erected in Jesenice. The first, in the hall of the Tone Čufar Theatre, was made by Anton Sigulin in 1958. The second, in front of Tone Čufar Primary School, was made by Nika Hafner in 1962–63. The third, standing in the Plavž Memorial Park, was made by Jaka Torkar in 1988. It was stolen in January 2008 and replaced in April 2008 with a replica of the bust in front of the school. Nika Hafner also created the statue of Čufar that is on display in Tone Čufar Primary School in Ljubljana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cufar, Tone 1905 births 1942 deaths Slovenian writers Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany People from Jesenice, Jesenice Ethnic Slovene people Slovene resistance members Slovenian people executed by Nazi Germany 20th-century dramatists and playwrights People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm