Marjan Rožanc (21 November 1930 – 18 September 1990) was a Slovenian author, playwright, and journalist. He is mostly known for his essays, and is considered one of the foremost essayists in Slovene, along with

Ivan Cankar Ivan Cankar (, ) (10 May 1876 – 11 December 1918) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet, and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slov ...

, Jože Javoršek, and

Drago Jančar Drago Jančar (born 13 April 1948) is a Slovenian writer, playwright and essayist. Jančar is one of the most well-known contemporary Slovene writers. In Slovenia, he is also famous for his political commentaries and civic engagement. Jančar's n ...

, and as a great master of style. He was born in the village of Devica Marija v Polju (now part of the

Polje District The Polje District (; sl, Četrtna skupnost Polje), or simply Polje, is a district () of the City Municipality of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is named after the former village of Polje. Geography The Polje District is bounded on the ...

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 are ...

), Slovenia (then part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

). He attended high school during World War Two, when the Province of Ljubljana was part of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. After the war, he briefly worked as a manual worker. In 1950, he was drafted into the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

, and he served in

Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čačalica (208m). As of 2011 ...

, Serbia. Because of his non-comformist attitudes, he was accused of "hostile propaganda" against the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was released in 1955 and returned to Slovenia. He settled in Maribor, where he started a career as a journalist. In the early 1950s, he moved back to Ljubljana, where he took up a career as a freelance writer and columnist. He became involved in a circle of young intellectuals known as the Critical Generation. He also became a close friend of the

Christian Socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

poet

Edvard Kocbek Edvard Kocbek () (27 September 1904 – 3 November 1981) was a Slovenian poet, writer, essayist, translator, member of Christian Socialists in the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation and Slovene Partisans. He is considered one of the best au ...

and the existentialist playwright Dominik Smole. Later, he grew closer to Christian ideals, especially through the influence of Christian existentialist thinkers such as Søren Kierkegaard and

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essa ...

. He became a co-editor of the alternative independent literary journal '' Perspektive'' and later also the director of the experimental theatre called Stage 57 (''Oder 57''). In 1964, the theatre tried to stage one of Rožanc's critical plays, ''Topla greda'' (The Greenhouse), but the Communist regime violently interrupted the staging. Rožanc established connections with Slovene

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

intellectuals from

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

(Italy), critical towards the Yugoslav Communist system, and published several articles in the journal ''Most'', edited by Boris Pahor and

Alojz Rebula Alojz Rebula (June 21, 1924 – October 23, 2018) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, and translator, and a prominent member of the Slovene minority in Italy. He lived and worked in Villa Opicina in the Province of Trieste, Italy. He was ...

. He was sentenced to two and a half years, but released on parole. In the 1970s, he worked as a sports manager in Ljubljana. In 1979, he published his best-known novel, ''Ljubezen'' (Love), an autobiographical account of the everyday life of a child in Ljubljana during World War Two. In the same year, he settled in the Karst region in the Slovenian Littoral, and continued to publish essays and short stories in various Slovenian journals. In 1987, he was among the authors of the

Contributions to the Slovenian National Program Contributions to the Slovene National Program ( sl, Prispevki za slovenski nacionalni program), also known as Nova revija 57 or 57th edition of Nova revija ( sl, 57. številka Nove revije) was a special issue of the Slovene opposition intellectua ...

. In 1990, he actively supported the candidature of

Jože Pučnik Jože Pučnik (9 March 1932 – 11 January 2003) was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and la ...

President of Slovenia The president of Slovenia, officially the president of the Republic of Slovenia ( sl, Predsednik Republike Slovenije), is the head of state of the Republic of Slovenia. The position was established on 23 December 1991 when the National Assembly p ...

, but he never joined any political party or organization. He died in Ljubljana. In 1993, the Rožanc Award for the best essay in Slovene was named after him.

References

External links

Literature in Context
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozanc, Marjan Slovenian essayists Writers from Ljubljana Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Journalists from Ljubljana Slovenian Roman Catholics 1930 births 1990 deaths Prešeren Award laureates 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century essayists 20th-century journalists