Mira Mihelič, also known as Mira Kramer Puc (14 July 1912 – 4 September 1985) was a Yugoslav writer and translator.

Biography

Mira Mihelič was born in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

on 14 July 1912, then

Austria-Hungary 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#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) as Mira Kramer. She went to school in

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

and studied law for a while. She then became a professional writer and translator, one of the most noted Slovene literary figures of the 20th century. She was a longtime member of Slovene and international writers' societies, serving as president of the

Slovene Writers' Association The Slovene Writers' Association () is a non-profit association of Slovene writers based in Ljubljana. The association was founded on 21 April 1872 in Ljubljana at the initiative of Davorin Trstenjak who also became its first president. The statu ...

and Slovene PEN from 1973 also vice-president of

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

. It was largely due to her efforts that international meetings organised by Slovene PEN began, an annual event that continues to date. She died in Ljubljana in 1985.

Work

Mihelič's first novels ''Obraz v zrcalu'' (Face in the Mirror) (1941) and ''Tiha Voda'' (Quiet Waters) (1942) are descriptions of life in the comfortable world and aristocratic atmosphere of family traditions where a culture of fairly earned wealth, respect and pride prevails. She then soon discovered her own personal view of the descriptive world of literature in which she juxtaposes respect with irony, enthusiasm with repulsion, class allegiance with attempts to escape from it etc. Her characters are torn between traditions, respect, controlling their feelings on the one side and lust and ambition on the other with love, intrigue, political power and wealthy playing a key role. A special place in given to the emancipated and independent modern woman rebelling against the traditional devoted role of women of her mother and grandmother's generation in favour of emotional fulfilment, though this does not necessarily mean the idealisation of women. An example of this is the heroine of her 1959 novel ''April'', taking place in the first months of the

Second World War 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 ...

. In ''Stolpnica osamelih žensk'' (1969) and ''Vrnite se, sinovi'' (1972) she further develops the irony in her descriptions of characters and gestures. ''Tujec v Emoni'' (1978) and ''Cesta dveh cesarsjev'' (1981) are historical novels about intrigues in ancient

Emona Emona (early ) or Aemona (short for ) was a Roman castrum, located in the area where the navigable Nauportus River came closest to Castle Hill,Congress of Laibach The Congress of Laibach was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives, held in 1821 in Ljubljana (then Laibach) as part of the Concert of Europe, Congress System which was the decided attempt of the five Great Powers to settl ...

respectively. Her final novel ''Ure mojih dni'' (1985) is a memoir. She also wrote novels for younger readers such as ''Pridi, moj mili Ariel'' (1965)also published in English as ''Come, My Gentle Ariel'', Didacta, 2002, and ''Puhkova kresna noč'' (1972). In 1963 she was awarded the Sovre Prize for her Slovene translations of the

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

's ''

Light in August ''Light in August'' is a 1932 novel by American author William Faulkner. It belongs to the Southern Gothic and modernist literary genres. Set in the author's present day, the interwar period, the novel centers on two strangers, a pregnant wh ...

'',

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...

's ''

Look Homeward, Angel ''Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life'' is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be ...

'', and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

's ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the Debut novel, first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Bo ...

''. In 1983 she won 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 ...

for lifetime achievement. She was married to the painter

France Mihelič France Mihelič (27 April 1907 – 1 August 1998) was a Slovene painter, one of the key figures in Slovene painting in the second half of the 20th century, known for his surrealist figurative paintings and prints. Mihelič was born in Virmaš ...

Selected works

* April (1959) * Vrnite se, sinovi (Return, my Sons) (1972) * Plamen in dim (Flma and Smoke) (1973) * Pridi, moj mili Ariel (Come, My Gentle Ariel) (1965) * Tujec v Emoni (A Stranger in Emona) (1978) * Cesta dveh cesarjev (The Road of Two Emperors) (1981) * Svet brez sovraštva (A World without Hatred) (1945) play * Operacija (Operation) (1950) play * Ure mojih dni (The Hours of my Days) (1985)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mihelic, Mira 1912 births 1985 deaths Yugoslav writers Yugoslav women writers Yugoslav translators English–Slovene translators Prešeren Award laureates Writers from Ljubljana Presidents of the Slovene Writers' Association University of Ljubljana alumni