Janko Kersnik (4 September 1852 – 28 July 1897) was a Slovene writer and politician. Together with

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) ( ...

, he is considered the most important representative of

literary realism Literary realism is a literary genre, part of the broader realism in arts, that attempts to represent subject-matter truthfully, avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements. It originated with the realist art movement that began with ...

in Slovene.

Biography

Kersnik was born in Brdo Manor near Lukovica in

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

, then part of the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A ...

(now in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

). His father Jože Kersnik was a district judge, while his mother Berta Höffern was a local

noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...

. Kersnik grew up in a bilingual, German- Slovene environment. He attended the German-language grammar school in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, but was expelled under accusations of Slovene nationalism. He continued his studies under the private tutorship of Fran Levec, an influential Young Slovene literary historian. He studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

and Graz, where he graduated in 1874. He worked in the Austro-Hungarian administration in

between 1874 and 1878, where he opened a civil law notary office in his native Brdo pri Lukovici. In the late 1870s, he became active in politics in the liberal Young Slovene party. In 1883, he was elected to the Carniolan

provincial diet The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...

. Together with Fran Šuklje, He belonged to the moderate faction of the Slovene Liberals, and opposed both the conservatism of the

Old Slovenes {{unreferenced, date=May 2016 Old Slovenes ( sl, Staroslovenci) is the term used for a national conservative political group in the Slovene Lands from the 1850s to the 1870s, which was opposed to the radical national liberal Young Slovenes. The m ...

, the centralism of Austrian liberals, and the Slovene radical

national liberalism 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 seri ...

, advocated by

Ivan Hribar Ivan Hribar (19 September 1851 – 18 April 1941) was a Slovene and Yugoslav banker, politician, diplomat and journalist. During the start of the 20th century, he was one of the leaders of the National Progressive Party, and one of the mos ...

and

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 Loka ...

. He died in Ljubljana in 1897.

Literary work

Kersnik started his literary career as a German-language poet. Under the influence of Slovene

post-Romantic Post-romanticism or Postromanticism refers to a range of cultural endeavors and attitudes emerging in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, after the period of Romanticism. Post-romanticism in literature The period of post-romantici ...

authors Josip Stritar and

Simon Jenko Simon Jenko (October 27, 1835 – October 18, 1869) was a Slovene poet, lyricist and writer. Jenko was born in Podreča in the Sora Plain (''Sorško polje'') in Upper Carniola, then part of the Austrian Empire, now in Slovenia, as an illegit ...

, he began writing in Slovene. He first wrote in late Romantic style, but under the influence of his personal friend

, he switched to

. He was a prolific author of short stories,

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...

s, and satires, in which he critically assessed the backwardness of the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( sl, Slovenske dežele or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provin ...

of his time, and the radicalization of political life.

Bibliography

* '' Na Žerinjah'', 1876 * ''

Rokovnjači ''Rokovnjači'' (The Bandits) is a novel by the Slovene author Josip Jurčič. It was first published in 1881. See also *List of Slovenian novels A list of Slovene novels: 0-9 * 5 do 12h A * Abadon (novel) * Alamut (1938 novel) * Angie * A ...

'' – finished after death of Josipa Jurčiča, 1881 * '' Lutrski ljudje'', 1882 * '' Ciklamen'', 1883 * '' Gospod Janez'', 1884 * ''

Agitator Agitator may refer to: Politics *A person who carries out political agitation; see agitation *A member of the Agitators, political movement and elected representatives of soldiers during the English Civil War * Levellers, also called Agitators ...

'', 1885 * '' Mačkova očeta'', 1886 * '' Testament'', 1887 * '' Dohtar Konec in njegov konj'', 1888 * '' Kako je stari Molek tatu iskal'', 1889 * '' Kmetske slike'', 1891 * '' Jara gospoda'', 1893 * '' Očetov greh'', 1894

Sources

Biographical entry in the Slovenian Biographical Lexicon: Kersnik, Janko

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kersnik, Janko 1852 births 1897 deaths People from the Municipality of Lukovica Slovenian people of German descent Young Slovenes politicians Members of the Diet of the Duchy of Carniola Slovenian writers University of Vienna alumni University of Graz alumni