Ivan Potrč (January 1, 1913 – June 12, 1993) was a Slovene writer and playwright.

Biography

Ivan Potrč was born on January 1, 1913, in a poor peasant family in Štuki near

Ptuj Ptuj (; , ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, eighth-largest town of Slovenia, located in the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria (northeastern Slovenia). It is the seat of the City Municipality of Ptuj, Municipality of Pt ...

,Koblar, France. 1949. "Potrč, Ivan." In: France Kidrič et al. (eds.), ''Slovenski biografski leksikon'', vol. 7: ''Peterlin–Pregelj.'' Ljubljana: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti. in what was then 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 ...

in the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. As a teenager living in difficult social circumstances and in the time of the rise of

German nationalism German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and of the Germanosphere into one unified nation-state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as ...

, which was seen a threat to the northern regions of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, he became an enthusiastic communist. Due to his political activities he was sentenced to eleven months of prison and excluded from the high school even before he passed his final

exit Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange A ...

exam. From 1938 to 1941, he was employed as a journalist at the

national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A serie ...

daily newspaper '' Večernik'' 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 ...

. In 1941, after the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

invaded Yugoslavia and annexed northern

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 ...

to the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

, Portč was interned to Mathausen concentration camp, from where he returned in 1943 and joined the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

. During and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he worked as editor and journalist for the newspapers ''Domovina'', '' Borba'', and ''Ljudska pravica''. In 1947, he became the main editor and later the director of the '' Mladinska knjiga'' publishing company.

Work

Ivan Potrč was the pioneer of

social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

in the northeastern

. He was influenced by his social environment and his avant-garde political ideas to which he remained faithful all his life. His most influential works were the drama trilogy depicting the disintegration and the downfall of Krefels, a landowner family, and the novel ''Na kmetih'' (The Land and the Flesh), which has been translated to numerous languages. For his work, Potrč received two

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 ...

s. In 1947, he was awarded for his play ''Kreflova kmetija'' (The Krefel Farm), and in 1955, for his novel ''Na kmetih''. From 1977 until 1983, he was an associate member of the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members of the academy. Cultural significance Establis ...

, and from 1983 until his death a full member of the academy. He was married to the author Branka Jurca. Their daughter

Marjetica Potrč Marjetica Potrč (; born 1953) is an artist and architect based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Potrč's interdisciplinary practice includes on-site projects, research, architectural case studies, and drawings (visual essays and diagrams). Her work docum ...

is a renowned artist and architect. Their son Matjaž Potrč is a professor of philosophy.

References

External links

* Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Slovenian journalists Prešeren Award laureates Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Presidents of the Slovene Writers' Association 1913 births 1993 deaths Yugoslav dramatists and playwrights People from the Urban Municipality of Ptuj Yugoslav journalists {{slovenia-writer-stub