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

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priest who worked in

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, 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

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(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

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 ...

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

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, 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 {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, as a chief

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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

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, 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

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, Galicia,

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, and in the

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. 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.

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

See also

Sources