Ján Samuel Francisci-Rimavský (born Ján Francisci, ; 1 June 1822 – 7 March 1905) was a Slovak poet, novelist, translator, journalist and politician, who collaborated with the national leader,

Ľudovít Štúr Ľudovít Štúr (; 28 October 1815 – 12 January 1856), also known as Ľudovít Velislav Štúr, was a Slovak revolutionary, politician, and writer. As a leader of the Slovak nationalism, Slovak national revival in the 19th century and the c ...

and philosophical-legal theorist and ideologist of the Slovak national movement Štefan Marko Daxner. He used numerous pseudonyms, including Janko Francisci, Janko Rimavský, Slavoľub and Vratislav Rimavský. Francisci established the tradition of

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

collections (in Slovakia) and also theoretically reflected the genre of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

fairy tales. His

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

are first manifestations of the literary

Slovak language Slovak ( ; endonym: or ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech-Slovak languages, Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script and formerly in Cyrillic script. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is ...

. His

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

are dominated by romantic

pathos Pathos appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. ''Pathos'' is a term most often used in rhetoric (in which it is considered one of the three modes of persuasion, alongside ethos and ...

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

motifs, motifs of Slovak

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

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 ...

, revolutionary-utopian idealism, but critical-social themes. Francisci, together with Daxner, initiated one of the most important state documents of Demands of the Slovak Nation and Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. He was also at the founding of Slovak Matica (

Matica slovenská Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is the oldest Slovakia, Slovak national, Culture, cultural and scientific organization. The headquarters of Slovak Matica is the town of Martin, Slovakia as the center of the national culture of Slovak ...

). Together with the

Janko Kráľ Janko Kráľ (; 24 April 1822 in Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš (now Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia) – 23 May 1876 in Zlaté Moravce) was one of the most significant and most radical Slovak Romanticism, romantic poets of the Ľudovít Štúr g ...

, Ján Rotarides, Štefan Marko Daxner and Samuel Štefanovič (before them, for example, Ján Kollár), he belongs to the category of national awakeners (under the influence of Štúr,

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

and

Herder A herder is a pastoralism, pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on extensive management, open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic pastoralism, nomadic or transhuma ...

) who thought not only nationally but partly also internationally and in the spirit of

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

.PERNÝ, Lukáš: Cultural and social, literary and philosophical contribution of Ján Francisci. 200th anniversary of the captain of Slovak volunteers, a collector of legends, a poet and an editor. In: Slovak Matica, 2022, https://matica.sk/janko-francisci/

Biography

He was born to a family of tailors in Hnúšťa,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

(present day

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). From 1834 to 1839, he studied at the "Evangelical Lyceum" in

Levoča Levoča (; ; ) is the principal town of Levoča District in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia, with a population of 14,256. The town has a historic center with a well-preserved town wall, a Gothic architecture, Gothic church with the talle ...

, then went to

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

(present day Bratislava), where he first met Štúr. In 1843, he passed the candidate's exam in theology and continued his studies at the law college in

Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...

. He worked briefly as a deputy professor at the Lyceum, then became an aide to a member of the Gömör és Kis-Hont County Council.Brief biography
by Martin Pliešovský @ the Hnúšťa website. In 1848, during the Slovak Uprising, he worked with Štefan Marko Daxner to organize the National Guard and was briefly sentenced to prison. After his release, he became a captain with the Slovak volunteers.Brief biography
@ Osobnosti. After the revolution, he worked in

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

, where he got married; then became a county commissioner in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

from 1853 to 1859. While serving in several other official positions, he was the editor of ''Pešťbudínske vedomosti'' (a twice-weekly political journal based in Pest) from 1861 to 1863. That same year, he became an honorary life vice-chairman of the

Matica Slovenská Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is the oldest Slovakia, Slovak national, Culture, cultural and scientific organization. The headquarters of Slovak Matica is the town of Martin, Slovakia as the center of the national culture of Slovak ...

. From 1864 to 1867 he was the county administrator of

Liptó County Liptó County (, , , , ) was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northern Slovakia. Geography Liptó county shared borders with the Austrian land Galicia and the Hungarian counties Árva ...

, but resigned after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise. He then became chief superintendent and inspector of the gymnasium in Revúca. In 1872, he retired to

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

to become a full-time writer, where he died in 1905. He also collected Slovak folk and fairy tales, translated

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, and helped edit collections of other writers' works, including those by

Pavol Dobšinský Pavol Dobšinský (16 March 1828 – 22 October 1885) was a Slovak collector of folklore and writer belonging to the period of Romanticism and the Štúr generation. He is perhaps best known for creating the largest and most complete collection o ...

and . His son became a composer who wrote the first opera in Slovak (''Bohatieri veselej družiny'', 1917). The Levoča Gymnasium was renamed in his honor in 1988.

Selected writings

In the collection of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

: * ''Listy Jána Francisciho'' (Letters, edited by Michal Eliáš), V Martine : Matica slovenská, 1990 * ''Iskry zo zaviatej pahreby'' (Sparks from Embers, poetry) Tatran, 1977 * ''Slovenskje povesti'' (Slovak legends) Matica slovenská, 1975

References

External links

Ján Francisci-Rimavský
@ Slovenský Portal. {{DEFAULTSORT:Francisci-Rimavsky, Jan 1822 births 1905 deaths Slovak politicians Poets from the Austrian Empire Poets from Austria-Hungary Slovak poets People from Hnúšťa Burials at National Cemetery in Martin People of the Slovak Uprising of 1848–49