Anton Aškerc (; 9 January 1856 – 10 June 1912) was a Slovenian
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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
priest who worked in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, best known for his
epic poem
In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...
s.
Aškerc was born into a peasant family near the town of
Rimske Toplice in the
Duchy of Styria
The Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution i ...
, then part of the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
(now in
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
),
and baptized ''Anton Askerz''.
His place of birth is recorded as at house no. 5
(i.e., the Hrušovar farm, his father's house)
in Senožete, which at the time was a hamlet of Rimske Toplice (). However, family tradition says that he was born at house no. 15 in
Globoko.
After graduating from
high school in Celje he entered the
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
theological
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
in
Maribor
Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...
. He was ordained a priest in 1880. The same year he published his first poem entitled ''Trije popotniki'' (The Three Travelers) in the
progressive literary magazine ''
Ljubljanski zvon''.
He started his literary career by writing
lyric poetry
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...
, but after 1882 moved to more epic themes. His
post-romantic poems express his
patriotism
Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...
,
love
Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
and
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
doubt. The themes of his
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
es and
romances come from
Slovene and
Slavic history, the
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
, folk traditions as well as contemporary life. He became strongly influenced by
literary realism
Literary realism is a movement and genre of literature that attempts to represent mundane and ordinary subject-matter in a faithful and straightforward way, avoiding grandiose or exotic subject-matter, exaggerated portrayals, and speculative ele ...
, writing some of his best known poems in this style, but never fully rejected
post-romanticism.
Aškerc published his poems in the journal ''Ljubljanski zvon'' under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
''Gorázd'' from 1881, but used his real name in his first poetry collection, ''Balade in romance'' (Ballades and Romances) published in 1890. The collection was warmly accepted by the reading public and critics, but was criticized from the emerging Catholic political activists, such as the bishop
Anton Mahnič, who disapproved of Aškerc's national,
freethinking and progressive social ideals. Aškerc took an early retirement from his priesthood service. Soon afterwards, he was appointed by
Ivan Hribar, the
liberal mayor of
Ljubljana
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, as a chief
archivist
An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...
of the Ljubljana City Archives, which he remained until his death.
During the last twenty years of his life, his relationship with the conservative Catholic clergy worsened, as did the quality of his literary work. He continued to enjoy full support from the
liberal political establishment in
Carniola
Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...
, led by
Ivan Tavčar
Ivan Tavčar () (28 August 1851 – 19 February 1923) was a Slovenian writer, lawyer, and politician.
Biography
Tavčar was born into the poor peasant family of Janez and Neža née Perko in the Carniolan village of Poljane near Škofja Lo ...
and
Ivan Hribar. His friendship with the
Swedish slavist
Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was ...
and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
Alfred Anton Jensen opened him the doors to international recognition: his poems were published in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
Galicia,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
,
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, and in the
Czech Lands
The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands (, ) is a historical-geographical term which denotes the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia out of which Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic and Slovakia, were formed. ...
. However, he started losing his influence over younger Slovenian authors. He rejected the poetry of
Dragotin Kette and
Josip Murn and entered in a dispute with the poet
Oton Župančič
Oton Župančič (; January 23, 1878 – June 11, 1949; pseudonym ''Gojko'' ) was a Slovene language, Slovene poet, translator, and playwright. He is regarded, alongside Ivan Cankar, Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn, as the beginner of modernism in ...
, from which he came as a clear loser. The young writer
Ivan Cankar, whom Aškerc admired, also published several critically sarcastic essays on Aškerc's late poetry, in which he targeted Aškerc as being the
symptom
Signs and symptoms are diagnostic indications of an illness, injury, or condition.
Signs are objective and externally observable; symptoms are a person's reported subjective experiences.
A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature ...
of the decay of old the Slovenian provincial national-liberal élite.
Despite the bitter last years of his life – in addition to everything mentioned, he lived in a constant fear of losing his job if the conservative
Slovenian People's Party had won the municipal elections, which didn't happen -, his funeral in Ljubljana was attended by a huge mass of people, among whom were many of his former adversaries.
One of the main thoroughfares in south-central Ljubljana, Aškerc Street (), is named after him, as are several other public places and institutions.
See also
*
Simon Gregorčič
*
List of Slovene-language poets
Sources
*
France Bernik, "Cankarjevo vrednotenje Aškerca" in ''Študije o slovenski poeziji'' (Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1993).
*
Igor Grdina, ''Slovenci med tradicijo in perspektivo: politični mozaik 1860–1918'' (Ljubljana: Študentska založba, 2003).
*
Kajetan Kovič, ''Sled sence zarje'' (Ljubljana:
Slovenska matica, 2006).
*
Ivan Prijatelj, ''Književnost mladoslovencev'' (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1962).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Askerc, Anton
1856 births
1912 deaths
People from the Municipality of Laško
19th-century Austrian male writers
Slovenian poets
Slovenian male poets