Fran Bradač (June 15, 1885 – May 2, 1970) was a Slovene classical philologist and translator.

Life and work

Bradač was born in

Jama pri Dvoru Jama pri Dvoru (, ) is a settlement in the Municipality of Žužemberk in southeastern Slovenia. It lies on the right bank of the Krka (Slovenia), Krka River opposite Dvor, Žužemberk, Dvor. The area is part of the historical region of Lower Carn ...

. He studied classical philology in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

from 1905 to 1910, and then continued his education in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, where he received his doctorate in 1920, followed by further study in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He taught classical philology at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

's Faculty of Arts from 1923 until 1945, when he was forced to retire by the new communist regime. Together with Josip Osana, he published the only grammar of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

in Slovene to date. He also wrote a Greek textbook, compiled a dictionary of foreign vocabulary, and authored several dictionaries of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. He translated a number of important Classical poems and comedies into Slovene, and he also translated material from modern languages, including Czech (

Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czechs, Czech writer, Humorism, humorist, Satire, satirist, journalist, Bohemianism, bohemian, first anarchist and then communist, and commissar of the Red Army against the Czechoslovak Legion. He is best k ...

and

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...

) and German (

Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; March 27, 1871 – March 11, 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German writer known for his sociopolitical novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...

, and others). After the Second World War, Bradač was forcibly retired in August 1945 in an ideological purge by the new minister of culture,

Ferdo Kozak Ferdo Kozak (28 October 1894 – 8 December 1957) was a Slovenian author, playwright, editor and politician. Biography He was baptized Ferdinand Kozak in an upper middle class family in Ljubljana, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His o ...

. Bradač was forbidden from voting, threatened with having his home confiscated, and placed on a meager pension. His textbooks continued to be used, but with his name pasted over.

Bibliography

* ''Slovar tujk'' (Dictionary of Foreign Vocabulary) * ''Slovensko-latinski slovar'' (Slovene-Latin Dictionary) * ''O goskici, ki se je učila peti'' (The Gosling That Learned to Sing), translation of a work by Karel Hroch * ''Izbrane pesmi rimskih lirikov Katula, Tibula in Propercija: tekst in komentar'' (Selected Poems from the Roman Lyrics of Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius: Text and Commentary)

References

External links

Grave of Fran Bradač
at Žale Cemetery {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradac, Fran 1885 births 1970 deaths Slovenian philologists Slovenian translators Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana 20th-century Slovenian translators Yugoslav philologists