Milan Rúfus (December 10, 1928 – January 11, 2009) was a Slovak

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, essayist, translator,

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

and academic. Rúfus is the most translated Slovak poet into other languages.

Life

Milan Rúfus was born to a family of bricklayers in

Závažná Poruba Závažná Poruba () is a village and municipality in Liptovský Mikuláš District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia. History In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1263. Before the establishment of independent Czechos ...

, located in the

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

region of today's

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 ...

. After graduating in 1948 from grammar school in the town of

Liptovský Mikuláš Liptovský Mikuláš (; until 1952 ''Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš'', ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, on the Váh River, about from Bratislava. It lies in the Liptov region, in Podtatranská kotlina, Liptov Basin near the Low Tatra and Tat ...

, he studied the Slovak language, literature, and history in the Faculty of Arts at

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

Bratislava 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. ...

. From 1952 until his retirement in 1989, he lectured at Comenius University on the history of Slovak and Czech literature. From 1971 to 1972 he also taught Slovak language and literature at the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He retired in 1990 and lived with his family in

. On January 11, 2008, Rúfus died a month after his 80th birthday, at the University Hospital in that city.

Work

Rúfus published his first poems in the magazines Prameň (Stream), Nový rod (New lineage), Mladá tvorba (Production of young ones) and Borba in the 1940s. His first collection, ''Až dozrieme'' ("When We Grow Mature") debuted in 1956. ''Až dozrieme'' was a huge progression in understanding of poetry in that period. His work was influenced by

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

, while he also exhibited strong social feelings. His sources of inspiration included Slovak folk art, the compositions of various Slovak painters, and also the work of photographer Martin Martinček. His poetry is known for the way he incorporated moral and life values, love, truth, beauty, suffering and the tragedy of both humans and the world during the second half of the 20th century. His works reflect his search for the meaning and essence of life, showing both perception and sensibility. In his poems, he delved into life's sorrows, uncertainties, delights, happiness and also resistance. He is credited with reminding the Slovak people to hold onto their traditions during the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

era. In a book of essays, ''Človek, čas a tvorba'' ("Human, Time and Creation"), he examined questions of poetry and its relation to truth, homeland and time. Toward the end of his life he also published ''Báseň a čas'' ("Poem and Time") and ''Vernosť'' ("Fidelity"). Beside writing for adults, he is known for his children's literature. A children's book, ''Modlitbičky'' ("Little Prayers") has been called his most successful work. As a translator he produced a Slovak version of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five-Act (drama), act play in verse written in 1867 by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. It is one of Ibsen's best known and most widely performed plays. ''Peer Gynt'' chronicles the journey of its title character fr ...

Awards and recognition

Rúfus, whose works have been translated into more than 20 languages, had been nominated for the

Nobel Prize for Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...

multiple times beginning in 1991. He became the first winner of the international Crane Summit Award for poetry 2008, introduced in Bratislava on his birthday, 10 December 2008. As part of the award, his poems have been translated into Chinese. In 1998, a

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

33158 Rúfus was named after him. On December 10, 2013, a Google Doodle celebrated his life and work.

Notes

External links

Information about author
(in Slovak) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rufus, Milan 1928 births 2009 deaths People from Liptovský Mikuláš District Slovak essayists Slovak children's writers Slovak translators 20th-century Slovak poets 20th-century Slovak translators Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk