France Prešeren () (3 December 1800 – 8 February 1849) was a 19th-century
Romantic Slovene poet whose poems have been translated into many languages.
[Database of translations – Prešeren](_blank)
, Slovene Book Agency, 2013
He has been considered the greatest Slovene classical poet and has inspired later
Slovene literature
Slovene literature is the literature written in Slovene. It spans across all literary genres with historically the Slovene historical fiction as the most widespread Slovene fiction genre. The Romantic 19th-century epic poetry written by the ...
. He wrote the first Slovene
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 ...
and the first Slovene
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale
Epic(s) ...
. After his death, he became the leading name of the Slovene
literary canon
The term canon derives from the Greek (), meaning "rule", and thence via Latin and Old French into English. The concept in English usage is very broad: in a general sense it refers to being one (adjectival) or a group (noun) of official, authenti ...
.
[Božič, Zoran (2011]
Dejavniki literarne kanonizacije v srednješolskih berilih – na primeru Prešerna (Factors of literary canonisation in high school reading materials – the case of Prešeren)
''Jezik in slovstvo'', vol.56, 5–6, pp. 3–26
He tied together the
motifs of his own unhappy love with that of an unhappy, subjugated homeland. Especially after
World War II in the Slovene Lands,
one of Prešeren's motifs, the "hostile fortune", has been adopted by Slovenes as a national myth, and Prešeren has been described being as ubiquitous as the air in Slovene culture.
Prešeren lived in conflict with both the civil and religious establishment, as well as with the provincial bourgeoisie of Ljubljana. He developed severe
alcoholism
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
and tried to kill himself on at least two occasions, facing rejections and seeing most of his closest friends die tragically. His
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 ...
dealt with the love towards his homeland, the suffering humanity, as well as his unfulfilled love towards his
muse
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
, Julija Primic.
He wrote poetry primarily in
Slovene, but also in German. He lived 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 ...
and at first regarded himself a Carniolan, but gradually adopted a broader Slovene identity.
Life
Early life and education

France Prešeren was born in the
Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola ( ; ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Kamnik, Jesenice, Jesenice, Jesenice, Domžale and ...
n village of
Vrba, then part of the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...
(today 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 ...
), as the third of eight children and the first son in the family of a well-off farmer and an ambitious and better educated mother who taught her children to write and read and soon sent them to their uncles who were Roman Catholic priests.
At the age of eight, he was sent to elementary schools in
Grosuplje and
Ribnica, run by the local Roman Catholic clergy. In 1812, he moved to the
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 ...
n provincial capital 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 ...
, where he attended the
State Gymnasium. He learned Latin,
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
, and German, which was then the language of education, administration, and high culture in most
areas inhabited by Slovenes.
In Ljubljana, Prešeren's the poet
Valentin Vodnik encouraged him to develop his literary skills in Slovene. As a high school student, he became friends with the future
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
Matija Čop.
In 1821, Prešeren enrolled at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
, where he studied law. 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. ...
, he studied the
western canon
The Western canon is the embodiment of High culture, high-culture literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that are highly cherished across the Western culture, Western world, such works having achieved the status of classics.
Recent ...
including
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
,
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
,
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
, and the Italian
trecentists, especially
Petrarch
Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists.
Petrarch's redis ...
and
Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...
. He also read contemporary
Romantic poets, and he was fired from a teaching post at
Klinkowström's
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
institute for having lent a booklet of banned poetry to his friend
Anastasius Grün.
Later life

After acquiring a
law degree
A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law.
Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...
in 1828, he returned to Ljubljana, where he was employed as an assistant in the firm of the lawyer Leopold Baumgartner. He constantly strove to become an independent lawyer, filing as many as six applications, but he was not successful. In 1832, he briefly moved to
Klagenfurt in the hope of furthering his career, but returned to Ljubljana after less than a year. In the spring of 1833, in the morning of 6 April, Easter Saturday, he supposedly met Julija Primic, the daughter of a rich merchant, who would become the unfulfilled love of his life. In 1833, he became a member of the Ljubljana high society's
social club
A social club or social organization may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation or activity with in an organizational association known as a Club (organization), club. Exampl ...
, called the ''Casino Society'' (, ), and met Julija in 1834 and 1835 at the theatre and at the dances at the
Casino Building,
but did not have the courage to directly show her his feelings towards her.
In 1834, he began working as an assistant to his friend Blaž Crobath, who gave Prešeren enough free time to engage in his literary activities. In the same year, he met the Czech romantic poet
Karel Hynek Mácha
Karel Hynek Mácha () (16 November 1810 – 5 November 1836) was a Czechs, Czech Romanticism, romantic poet. His poem ''Máj'' is among the most important poems in the history of Czech literature.
Biography
Mácha was born on 16 November 1810 ...
and the Slovene-born Croatian poet
Stanko Vraz and had long and fruitful discussions on poetry with them.
Around 1836, Prešeren finally realized that his love for Julija would never become mutual (she had married another man the previous year). The same year, he met Ana Jelovšek, with whom he entered into a permanent relationship. They had three children, but never married. Prešeren supported Ana financially and treated her as his rightful mate, but engaged in several other love affairs at the same time. He also spent a lot of time travelling throughout Carniola, especially to
Lake Bled, from the scenery of which he drew inspiration for his poems. In 1846, Prešeren was finally allowed to open his own law firm and moved to
Kranj
Kranj (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fourth-largest city in Slovenia and the largest urban center of the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia) and the Slovene Alps. It is located approximately northwest o ...
with his family. He died there on 8 February 1849. Upon his deathbed he confessed that he had never forgotten Julija.
Work
Early years
Prešeren's first serious poetic attempts date from his student years in Vienna. In 1824, he wrote some of his most popular poems, still under the influence of
Valentin Vodnik and the rich tradition of Slovene folk poetry. In 1825, he completed a collection of "Carniolan poems," which he showed to the philologist
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...
. Kopitar was very critical of the young man's literary attempts, and so Prešeren destroyed the entire collection. Kopitar's rejection hindered the development of Prešeren's creativity; he did not publish anything more until 1827, when his satirical poem "To Maidens" (''Dekletom'') was published by the German-language newspaper (Illyrian News). In 1828, Prešeren wrote his first important poem, "A Farewell to Youth." However, it was published only in 1830, in the literary almanac ''
Krajnska čbelica'' (The Carniolan Bee), established the same year by the librarian Miha Kastelic in Ljubljana. The journal published another well-known poem by Prešeren that year, the first Slovene
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 ...
. It was titled "
The Water Man" () and was a narration about Urška, a flirt from Ljubljana that ended in the hands of a handsome man who happened to be a
water man.
In 1830, his friend from high school, Matija Čop, returned to Ljubljana and re-established contacts with Prešeren. Čop soon recognized his friend's poetic talent and persuaded him to adopt
Romanic poetic forms. Following Čop's advice, Prešeren would soon become a master of the
sonnet
A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
. His poems were noticed by the Czech scholar
František Čelakovský, who published several highly positive critiques of it. Čelakovský's praise was extremely important for Prešeren's self-esteem and gave him the strength to continue in the path on which Čop had orientated him.
The most productive years
Between 1830 and 1835, Prešeren composed his esthetically most accomplished poems, which were inspired by the setbacks in his personal life, especially by his unrequited love for Julija Primic. Prešeren followed Čop's advice and transformed Julija into a poetic figure, reminiscent of
Dante's Beatrice and
Petrarch's Laura.
''A Wreath of Sonnets''
''A Wreath of Sonnets'' () is Prešeren's most important poem from his early period. It is a
crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
of 15 sonnets. It was published on 22 February 1834 in the ''Illyrian Paper''. In it, Prešeren tied together the motifs of his own unhappy love with that of an unhappy, subjugated homeland. The poem was recognized as a masterpiece by Matija Čop, but it did not gain much recognition beyond the small circle around the journal ''Krajnska čbelica''. Moreover, Julija was unimpressed. Understandably, Prešeren moved to more bitter verses.
''Sonnets of Misfortune''
Another important work from this period are the "
Sonnets of Misfortune" (''Sonetje nesreče''), which were first drafted already in 1832, but were published in the 4th volume of ''Krajnska čbelica'' only in July 1834, with some changes. They are the most pessimistic of Prešeren's works. This is a group of six (initially seven) sonnets expressing the poet's despair over life. In the first sonnet, titled "
O Vrba," Prešeren reflects on what his life could have been like, had he never left his home village. The other sonnets from the circle have not gained such a widespread popularity, but are still considered by scholars to be among Prešeren's most genuine and profound works.
After Čop's death
1835 was Prešeren's ''
annus horibilis''. His closest friend Matija Čop drowned while swimming in the
Sava
The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...
River, Julija Primic married a wealthy merchant, and Prešeren became alienated from his friend and editor of the literary journal ''Krajnska čbelica'', Miha Kastelic. Following his best friend's death, Prešeren wrote the epic-lyric poem ''
The Baptism on the Savica'' (), dedicating it to Čop. Set during the forced
Christianisation
Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...
of the predecessors of Slovenes, the
Carantanians, in the late 8th century, the poem addresses the issues of collective identity and faithfulness to the ancestors' ways, as well as the issue of individual and his hope and resignation. The philosopher
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual.
He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...
interpreted the poem as an example of the emergence of modern
subjectivity
The distinction between subjectivity and objectivity is a basic idea of philosophy, particularly epistemology and metaphysics. Various understandings of this distinction have evolved through the work of countless philosophers over centuries. One b ...
.
In 1837, Prešeren met
Emil Korytko, a Polish political activist from
Galicia, confined by the
Austrian authorities to Ljubljana. Korytko introduced to Prešeren the work of
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...
, which had an important influence on his later works. The two even jointly translated one of Mickiewicz's poems ("Resygnacja") from Polish to Slovene and started collecting Slovene folk songs in Carniola and
Lower Styria
Styria (, ), also known as Slovenian Styria (; ) or Lower Styria (; ) to differentiate it from Austrian Styria, is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy of Styria. The population of St ...
. In 1839, Korytko died, leaving Prešeren without an important
interlocutor after Čop's death.
In the autumn of the same year, Andrej Smole, one of Prešeren's friends from his youth, returned home after many years of living and travelling abroad. Smole was a relatively rich young intellectual from a well-established merchant family, who supported the development of Slovene culture. The two spent much of the winter of 1839–1840 on Smole's estate in
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region 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 an ...
, where they planned several cultural and literary projects, including the establishment of a daily newspaper in Slovene and the publishing of
Anton Tomaž Linhart's comedy ''Matiček's Wedding'' which had been prohibited as "politically inappropriate" in 1790, due to the outbreak of the
French Revolution. Both projects failed: the planned journal ''Ilirske novice'' was blocked by the Viennese censorship, and Linhart's play would be staged only in 1848, without Prešeren's assistance. Smole died suddenly in 1840, literally in Prešeren's arms, while celebrating his 40th birthday. Prešeren dedicated a touching, yet unexpectedly cheerful and
vitalist
Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...
poem to his late friend.
The later years
After 1840, Prešeren was left without any interlocutor who could appreciate his works, but continued to write poetry, although much less than in the 1830s. He gradually departed from the typical romantic trend, adopting an increasingly diverse and innovative style. In 1843, an important breakthrough for Prešeren happened:
Janez Bleiweis started publishing a new daily journal in Slovene and invited Prešeren to participate in its cultural section. The two men came from rather different backgrounds: Bleiweis was a moderate conservative and staunch supporter of the ecclesiastical and imperial establishments and alien to the Romantic culture. He nevertheless established a fair relationship with the poet. Prešeren's participation in Bleiweis' editorial project was the closest he would come to public recognition during his lifetime.
In 1844, he wrote the patriotic poem "
Zdravljica
"Zdravljica" (; ) is a '' carmen figuratum'' poem by the 19th-century Romantic Slovene poet France Prešeren, inspired by the ideals of ''Liberté, égalité, fraternité''. It was written in 1844 and published with some changes in 1848. Four ...
" (A Toast), the most important achievement of his late period. In 1847, a volume of his collected poems was published under the simple title ''Poezije dr. Franceta Prešerna'' (Poems of Dr. France Prešeren).
Prešeren spent the last two years of his life occupied with private life and his new job as a lawyer in Kranj. According to some accounts, he was planning several literary projects, including a novel in the
realistic style and an experimental play, but he was struck with liver disease caused by his excessive drinking in prior years. The
revolution of 1848 left him rather indifferent, although it was carried out by the young generation who already saw him as an idol of democratic and
national ideals. Before his death, he did however redact his ''Zdravljica'', which was left out from the 1847 volume of poems, and made some minor adjustments for a new edition of his collected poems.
Reception and influence
Today, Prešeren is still considered one of the leading poets of Slovene literature, acclaimed not only nationally or regionally, but also according to the standards of developed European literature. Prešeren was one of the greatest European Romanticists. His fervent, heartfelt lyrics, intensely emotional but never merely sentimental, have made him the chief representative of the
Romantic school in Slovenia.
Nevertheless, recognition came slowly after his death. It was not before 1866 that a real breakthrough in the reception of his role in Slovene culture took place. In that year,
Josip Jurčič
Josip Jurčič (4 March 1844 – 3 May 1881) was a Slovene writer and journalist. He was born in Muljava, Austrian Empire (now part of the municipality of Ivančna Gorica, Slovenia)Levec, Fran. 1881. Josip Jurčič. ''Ljubljanski zvon'' 1(6) ...
and
Josip Stritar published a new edition of Prešeren's collection of poems. In the preface, Stritar published an essay which is still considered one of the most influential essays in Slovene history. In it, he showed the aesthetic value of Prešeren's work by placing him in the wider European context. From then on, his reputation as the greatest poet in Slovene was never endangered.
Legacy
Prešeren's legacy in Slovene culture is enormous. He is generally regarded as the
national poet
A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbol, to be distinguished ...
. In 1905,
his monument was placed at the central square in Ljubljana, now called
Prešeren Square. By the early 1920s, all his surviving work had been catalogued and numerous critical editions of his works had been published. Several scholars were already dealing exclusively with the analysis of his work and little was left unknown about his life. Slovene composer
Breda Šček set his works to music.
In 1945, the anniversary of his death, called
Prešeren Day, was declared as the Slovene cultural holiday. In 1989, his ''Zdravljica'' was declared the
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
of Slovenia, replacing the old ''
Naprej, zastava slave''. In 1992, his effigy was portrayed on the Slovene 1000
tolar banknote, and since 2007, his image is on the
Slovene two-euro coin. The highest Slovene prize for artistic achievements, the
Prešeren Award
The Prešeren Award (), also called the Grand Prešeren Award (), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each year by the Prešeren Fund () to two eminent Slovene art ...
, is named after him.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
Henry Ronald Cooper, ''Francè Prešeren'' (Boston, MA: Twayne, 1981).
*
Janko Lavrin
Janko Lavrin (10 February 1887 – 13 August 1986) was a Slovene novelist, poet, critic, translator, and historian. He was Professor Andrej Jelenc DiCaprio of Slavonic Studies at the University of Nottingham. An enthusiast for psycho-analysis, h ...
, ''Francè Prešeren: 1800–1849'' (Bristol: Western Printing Services Ltd., 1955).
External links
Preseren.net Prešeren.net – web page dedicated to the poet in Slovene, English, and German
F. Prešeren. 5 poems in the English translation (audio)F. Prešeren. Sonnets in the English translation (audio)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preseren, France
1800 births
1849 deaths
Poets from the Austrian Empire
People from the Municipality of Žirovnica
Romantic poets
National anthem writers
Carniolan poets
Carniolan lawyers
Slovenian poets
Slovenian male poets
University of Vienna alumni
Deaths from cirrhosis
19th-century Carniolan writers