Lojze Kovačič (9 November 1928 – 1 May 2004) was a Slovene writer. His novel ''The Newcomers'' () is often considered one of the most important Slovene novels of the 20th century and has been translated into German, French, Spanish, English and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

. Kovačič was born to a Slovene father and a German mother in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1928. When his patriotic father refused Swiss citizenship, his family was expelled from Switzerland in 1938 and moved first to rural

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 ...

and then to

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, just at the outbreak of the Second World War. His father's death in 1944 shifted the burden of supporting the family onto Lojze. At the end of the war, the mere fact that they were half German made them suspicious and the whole family apart from Lojze were deported. Lojze remained despite frequent confrontations with the authorities. In 1962 he graduated in

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

and

Germanic Studies Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary te ...

from the Faculty of Education of 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 ...

. He found employment as an art and

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

teacher in Ljubljana, and from 1978 to his retirement in 1989 he was also involved in literary education. Literary recognition did not come until the 1970s.Gašper Troha,

Sebastijan Pregelj Sebastijan Pregelj (born 29 July 1970) is a Slovenian writer. In the second half of the 1990s Sebastijan Pregelj (b.1970) called attention to himself with his collections of short stories. During the last ten years, he has undoubtedly proven his ...

: ''Ljubljana Literary Trail'', Beletrina, 2011, Many of his novels are highly autobiographical. He received a number of awards, including 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 ...

in 1973 and the

Kresnik Award Kresnik is a literary award in Slovenia awarded each year for the best novel in Slovene language, Slovene of the previous year. It has been bestowed since 1991 at summer solstice by the national newspaper house Delo (newspaper), Delo. The awards c ...

for best novel in 1991 and 2004. In addition to his opus of adult fiction, he also published a number of books for children and young readers. He died in Ljubljana in 2004.

List of works

Adult fiction * ''Ljubljanske razglednice'', Postcards from Ljubljana, short stories (1956) * ''Ključi mesta'', Keys to the City, short stories (1967) * ''Deček in smrt'', A Boy and Death, novel (1968) * ''Sporočila v spanju – Resničnost'', Messages in Dreams: Reality (1972) * ''Pet fragmentov'', Five Fragments (1981) * ''Prišleki'', The Newcomers (trilogy), novel (1983–1985) * ''Basel'' (1986) * ''Prah'', Dust, novel (1988) * ''Kristalni čas'', Crystal Time, novel (1990) * ''Zgodbe s panjskih končnic'', Stories from Beehive Panels (1992) * ''Vzemljohod'', The Descent (1993) * ''Književna delavnica – šola pisanja'', The Workshop: A School of Writing (1997) * ''Otroške stvari'', Things of Childhood, novel (2003) * ''Zrele reči'', Things of Maturity, novel (published posthumously 2009) Juvenile literature * ''Novoletna zgodba'', A New Year's Tale (1958) * ''Zgodbe iz mesta Rič-Rač'', Tales from the Town of Rič-Rač (1962) * ''Fantek na oblaku'', A Boy on a Cloud (1969) * ''Potovanje za nosom'', Following your Nose (1972) * ''Možiček med dimniki'', A Man among the Chimneys (1974) * ''Najmočnejši fantek na svetu'', The Strongest Boy in the World (1977) * ''Dva zmerjalca'', A Pair of Scolders (1979) * ''Rdeča kapica'', Little Red Riding Hood (1979) * ''Zgodba o levih in levčku'', The Tale of the Lions and the Lion Cub (1983) * ''Zgodbe iz mesta Rič-Rač in od drugod'', Tales from the Town of Rič-Rač and Elsewhere (1994)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacic, Lojze 1928 births 2004 deaths Slovenian writers Prešeren Award laureates Kresnik Award laureates Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Slovenian children's writers University of Ljubljana alumni Writers from Basel-Stadt