Edvard Kocbek () (27 September 1904 – 3 November 1981) was a
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, and ...
n
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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
,
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, ...
,
essayist
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...
,
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
, member of Christian Socialists in the
Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation and
Slovene Partisans. He is considered one of the best authors who have written in
Slovene, and one of the best Slovene poets after
Prešeren. His political role during and after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
made him one of the most controversial figures in Slovenia in the 20th century.
Biography
Early life and school
Kocbek was born in the village of
Sveti Jurij ob Ščavnici
Sveti Jurij ob Ščavnici (; german: St. Georgen an der Stainz) is a settlement in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Sveti Jurij ob Ščavnici. It lies on the Ščavnica River in the region known as Prlekija. The area ...
in the
Duchy of Styria
The Duchy of Styria (german: Herzogtum Steiermark; sl, Vojvodina Štajerska; hu, Stájer Hercegség) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 180 ...
, then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, now in Slovenia. His father Valentin Kocbek was originally from the nearby
Slovene Hills
The Slovene Hills or the Slovenian Hills ( sl, Slovenske gorice, german: Windische Bühel or ) is the largest hilly region of Slovenia, a smaller part is located in the Austrian province of Styria. It is situated in the northeast of the country and ...
( sl, Slovenske gorice) area, while his mother Matilda, née Plohl was from the neighboring village of
Sveti Tomaž in the
Prlekija
Prlekija is a region in northeastern Slovenia between the Drava and Mura rivers. It comprises the eastern part of the Slovene Hills ( sl, Slovenske gorice), stretching from the border with Austria to the border with Croatia. It is part of the tra ...
Hills. The couple moved to Sveti Jurij, where Valentin Kocbek worked as an
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...
in the local Roman Catholic church. Edvard was the second of four children.
He attended the
German-language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
high school in
Maribor
Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava sta ...
, where he witnessed with enthusiasm the takeover of the town by the Slovene volunteers led by general
Rudolf Maister
Rudolf Maister ( pen name: Vojanov; 29 March 1874 – 26 July 1934) was a Slovene military officer, poet and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters" ( ...
. He later switched to the Slovene language high school in
Ptuj
Ptuj (; german: Pettau, ; la, Poetovium/Poetovio) is a town in northeastern Slovenia that is the seat of the Municipality of Ptuj. Ptuj, the oldest recorded city in Slovenia, has been inhabited since the late Stone Age and developed from a Roman ...
.
[Andrej Inkret, ''In stoletje bo zardelo'' (Ljubljana: Modrijan, 2011), 23] During his stay in Ptuj, he befriended the later editor and priest
Stanko Cajnkar and dramatist
Ivan Mrak.
His Slovene language teacher was
Anton Sovre, the most prominent
classical philologist
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and ot ...
and translator from Greek in Slovenia between the two world wars.
Sovre was the first to discover Kocbek's literary talent and encourage him to write and to participate in the dramatic circle. He also developed an early passion for
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...
and
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
.
During the same period, he became active in the Catholic athletic club
Orel.
Youthful activism
After graduating from the lower high school in Ptuj, he enrolled in the
classical gymnasium in Maribor; he was the first generation of students who took their courses entirely in Slovene (before that, courses were still partially taught in German). During his high school years in Maribor, he joined a group of young
Christian socialists who wanted to continue the legacy of both the
Slovene Christian socialist political activist and thinker
Janez Evangelist Krek, and the
Social democratic
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
author
Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar (, ) (10 May 1876 – 11 December 1918) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet, and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slov ...
. This young Catholic movement was inspired by the German Catholic theologian and philosopher
Romano Guardini
Romano Guardini (17 February 1885 – 1 October 1968) was a German Catholic priest, author, and academic. He was one of the most important figures in Catholic intellectual life in the 20th century.
Life and work
Guardini was born in Verona, I ...
. They strove for a more authentic liturgy and religiosity, which would base on the believer's personal relationship with God; they rejected
clericalism,
social conservativism
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
and
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
, and demanded the development of a new social order, based on an ethically renewed individual.
[Andrej Inkret, ''In stoletje bo zardelo'' (Ljubljana: Modrijan, 2011), 26–27] The group became eventually known as the "Crusaders" ( sl, križarji), after the journal ''Križ na gori'' ("Cross on the Mountain"), edited by the poet
Anton Vodnik, who became one of the spiritual leaders of the group.
In 1925, Kocbek graduated from the Maribor gymnasium and went to a long excursion through
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
together with his close friend
Pino Mlakar
Pino Mlakar () (2 March 1907, Novo Mesto – 30 September 2006) was a Slovenian ballet dancer, choreographer, and teacher. He was born in Novo Mesto.
In 1927 he graduated from the Rudolf Laban Choreographic Institute in Hamburg.
He was a ...
. Upon returning, he decided to enroll to the Maribor priest seminar; he however quit after two years and enrolled at the
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students.
History Beginnings
Although certain ...
, where he studied
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...
and
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
.
In 1928, he became the chief editor of the journal ''Križ na Gori'', which changed its name to ''Križ'' (Cross). He remained active in the Catholic youth movement. During this time, he also published his first poems in the prominent Catholic cultural magazine ''
Dom in svet''.
Between 1928 and 1929, he stayed a year in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, where he attended courses by Romano Guardini at the
Humboldt University
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiati ...
. There, he also established contacts with the local leftist, especially
Marxist
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...
subculture.
Upon returning to
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
and finishing his studies, he taught at elementary schools in
Bjelovar
Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats.
Histor ...
in
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capi ...
.
In 1931, he received a scholarship to study in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
. He also visited
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, where he met with the French thinker
Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier (; ; 1 April 1905 – 22 March 1950) was a French philosopher, theologian, teacher and essayist.
Biography
Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French personalist movement, and founder and director of ''Esprit'', the magazine w ...
who introduced him to the
personalist
Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...
philosophy. For the rest of his life, Kocbek would maintain contacts with the circle around the French magazine ''
Esprit
Esprit or L'Esprit may refer to:
* the French for Spirit; as a loanword:
** Enthusiasm, intense interest or motivation
** Morale, motivation and readiness
** Geist "mind/spirit; intellect"
* Esprit (name), a given name and surname
* ''Esprit'' (m ...
'', with which he felt the strongest intellectual affinity. Throughout his life, Kocbek maintained contacts with several French
Christian left
The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel.
Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...
thinkers, most notably with the writer
Jean-Marie Domenach
Jean-Marie Domenach (; 13 February 1922 – 5 July 1997) was a French writer and intellectual. He was noted as a left-wing and Catholic thinker.
Domenach was born in Lyon, where he studied at the Lycée du Parc. In 1957, he took over the editor ...
.
After his return to
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
in 1932, he was transferred from Bjelovar to
Varaždin
)
, image_photo =
, image_skyline =
, image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg
, flag_size =
, image_seal =
, seal_size =
, image_shield = Grb_Grad ...
, also in Croatia. He however maintained close contacts with Slovene intellectual circles. In 1935, he published his first collection of poems, ''Zemlja'' (Soil), a hymnic and modernist hommage to the stillness of the rural life. The same year, he married a
Croat
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...
woman from Varaždin, Zdravka Koprivnjak.
In 1936, he returned to Slovenia, where he was employed as professor of French language at the
Bežigrad Grammar School.
Anti-Fascist resistance
In 1937, Kocbek wrote an article called "Reflections on Spain" (''Premišljevanje o Španiji''), in which he attacked the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
clergy who supported the pro-
Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
forces of general
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
in the
Spanish civil war
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
. The article, published in the liberal Catholic magazine ''
Dom in svet'', caused a scandal among Slovene Catholics, which reached its height by the condemnation of Kocbek's positions by the bishop of Ljubljana,
Gregorij Rožman. As a consequence, Kocbek became the referential figure on the
Christian left
The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel.
Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...
in Slovenia.
In 1938, Kocbek founded a new journal, ''
Dejanje'' (The Action), which soon emerged as one of the most influential journals in Slovenia.
Between 1937 and 1941, Kocbek maintained an ambiguous position towards
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
: on the one hand, he rejected both "left and right
totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regu ...
", on the other he maintained contacts with both
Slovene Communists and the
left liberal
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
intellectuals around the journals ''
Sodobnost'' and ''
Ljubljanski zvon
''Ljubljanski zvon'' (The Ljubljana Bell) was a journal published in Ljubljana in Slovene between 1881 and 1941. It was considered one of the most prestigious literary and cultural magazines in Slovenia.
Early period
The journal was founded in ...
'', in an attempt to establish a
popular front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalition ...
against the
Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
threat.
Shortly after the
Axis invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was ...
in April 1941, Kocbek was among the founders of the
Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation as member of its Christian Socialist group.
After several months in underground during the Italian occupation, Kocbek joined the
Slovene Partisans where in 1943 he was forced to agree to dissolve the Christian Socialist group within the Liberation Front and recognized the absolute primacy of the
Communist Party of Slovenia
The League of Communists of Slovenia ( sl, Zveza komunistov Slovenije, ZKS; sh, Savez komunista Slovenije) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989. It was establis ...
within the Partisans.
Just before the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, he was nominated as Minister for Slovenia in the interim
Yugoslav government led by
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...
. After the end of the war, he continued was given several other functions within the new
Communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...
, all of them without any real power.
Removal from public life
In 1951, Kocbek published a volume of short stories, entitled "Fear and Courage" (''Strah in pogum''), in which he touched the issue of moral dilemmas in the Partisan fight during World War II. The Communist regime used the book as an excuse to launch a massive propaganda attack on his person, forcing him to completely withdraw to private life in 1952, placing him under surveillance until the end of his life. In the next decade, he was not allowed to appear in public, let alone publish his books or essays. During this time, he earned his living by translating. Among others, he translated works by
Balzac,
Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
,
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of s ...
, and
Max Frisch
Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant featur ...
.
In the years of his isolation, Kocbek turned almost exclusively to poetry, where he explored philosophical and ethical issues in a modernist style. After 1964, Kocbek was allowed some more public appearance, and many of his poems were allowed to be published for the first time after 1952. His later modernist poetry became an important source of inspiration for the young generations of Slovene authors, including such leading figures like
Dominik Smole
Dominik Smole (24 August 1929 – 29 July 1992) was a Slovenian writer and playwright.
Biography
Smole was born in Ljubljana in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He attended school in Ljubljana and after the end of World War II he was em ...
,
Jože Snoj
Jože Snoj (17 March 1934 – 7 October 2021) was a Slovenian poet, novelist, journalist and essayist. He was awarded the 2012 Prešeren Award for his lifetime work and rich literary opus.
He was born in Maribor, then part of the Kingdom of Y ...
,
Tomaž Šalamun,
Marjan Rožanc
Marjan Rožanc (21 November 1930 – 18 September 1990) was a Slovenian author, playwright, and journalist. He is mostly known for his essays, and is considered one of the foremost essayists in Slovene, along with Ivan Cankar, Jože Javoršek ...
, and many others.
The Zaliv Scandal
Following the
1975 Zaliv Scandal, the Communist regime launched another massive denigration campaign against him. The international pressure on
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
, especially the intervention of the German writer
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...
, was most probably the main element that protected Kocbek from judicial prosecution. He died in Ljubljana in 1981 and was buried in the
Žale
Žale Central Cemetery ( sl, Centralno pokopališče Žale), often simply Žale, is the largest and the central cemetery in Ljubljana and Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad District and operated by the Žale Public Company.
History
The ce ...
cemetery.
Persecuted figure
After his removal from public life in 1952, Kocbek was under constant surveillance of the Yugoslav Secret Police, the
UDBA. His personal file (under the number 584), written from 1944 to 1981, has 4,268 pages of reports. Sixty-nine secret police officials followed Kocbek between 1952 and 1981.
Many of Kocbek's close friends were hired by the police to spy on him: the most reports were written by the essayist
Jože Javoršek.
In 1976, two of his closest friends,
Viktor Blažič
Viktor Blažič (19 July 1928 – 25 June 2014) was a Slovenian journalist, essayist, translator and former anti-Communist dissident.
He was born in the village of Smolenja Vas near Novo Mesto in south-eastern Slovenia, then part of the Kingdom ...
and
Franc Miklavčič, were arrested and placed on trial for belonging to "Kocbek's secret circle." Kocbek himself, however, was never arrested, although he was interrogated by the secret police several times. Several of his personal files were stolen and were never recovered, and his apartment was wired. In the mid-1970s, during a renovation of their apartment, Kocbek's son
Jurij Kocbek discovered a microphone hidden in the wall. Kocbek wrote a famous poem for the occasion, entitled ''
A Microphone in the Wall'' (''Mikrofon v zidu''), in which he poetically juxtaposed technology to human activity.
Personal life
Kocbek was married and had three children. His daughter Lučka died in 1973 at the age of 34 because of a
cerebral hemorrhage
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
. His older son
Matjaž Kocbek (1946–2013), became a renowned poet and art theorist, and his younger son
Jurij Kocbek (1949–2009) was a photographer and graphic designer.
In addition to Slovene, Kocbek was fluent in German, French, and Serbo-Croatian, and knew Latin and ancient Greek.
Legacy and commemoration
In the 1980s, and especially in the 1990s, Kocbek's literary oeuvre became highly praised, and his role as a writer was positively re-assessed. In 1998, a street in Ljubljana's
Bežigrad district was named after him, A street in
Celje
)
, pushpin_map = Slovenia
, pushpin_label_position = left
, pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Cou ...
is also named after him.
In 2004, the centenary of Kocbek's birth was celebrated with many events, culminating in an official state celebration with the Slovenian Prime Minister
Anton Rop
Anton Rop (born 27 December 1960) is a Slovenian politician. Currently, he is a vice-president of European Investment Bank. He was Prime Minister of Slovenia, from 2002 to 2004. Until 2005 he was also the president of the Liberal Democratic Part ...
as the main speaker.
A sitting statue of the poet was ceremonially unveiled in the immediate vicinity of the
Tivoli Pond
Tivoli Pond ( sl, Tivolski ribnik, less often or simply or ''Ribnjak'' ('pond')) is a man-made pond at the southeastern end of Tivoli City Park in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It was created in 1880. It is part of Tivoli–Rožnik Hill– ...
in
Tivoli Park in Ljubljana.
It is a bronze statue by the sculptor
Boštjan Drinovec. The poet sits on a bank and looks at his double on a handhold of the bank.
Works
Poetry
* ''Zemlja '' ("Earth". Ljubljana: Nova založba, 1934).
* ''Groza'' ("Dread". Ljubljana:
Slovenska matica, 1963).
* ''Poročilo: pesmi'' ("Report: Poems"; Maribor: Založba Obzorja, 1969).
* ''Žerjavica'' ("Embers". Trieste: Založništvo tržaškega tiska, 1974).
* ''Zbrane pesmi'' ("Collected Poems". Ljubljana: Cankarjeva zalozba, 1977).
Prose
* ''Strah in pogum: štiri novele'' ("Fear and Courage: Four Short Stories". Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1951).
Essays and diaries
* ''Tovarišija: dnevniški zapiski od 17. maja 1942 do 1. maja 1943'' ("The Comradeship: Diary Entries from 17th May 1942 to 1st May 1943". Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1949).
* ''Slovensko poslanstvo : dnevnik s poti v Jajce 1943'' ("The Slovene Mission: Diary from the Journey to Jajce, 1943". Celje: Mohorjeva družba, 1964).
* ''Listina : dnevniški zapiski od 3. maja do 2. decembra 1943'' ("The Document: Diary Entries from 3rd May to 2nd December 1943." Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1967).
* ''Eros in seksus'' ("Eros and Sexuality". Ljubljana: Naše tromostovje, 1970), with a preface by
Franc Rode.
* ''Svoboda in nujnost: pričevanja'' ("Freedom and Necessity: Testimonies". Celje: Mohorjeva družba, 1974), with a preface by
France Vodnik.
* ''Krogi navznoter'' ("Inside Circles". Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1977).
* ''Pred viharjem'' ("Before the Storm". Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1980), with a preface by
Janez Gradišnik.
* ''Sodobni misleci'' ("Contemporary Thinkers". Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1981), with a preface by Janez Gradišnik.
Translations to English
*''The Lipizzaners'' (poetry) (Ljubljana: Association of Slovene Writers, 1989).
*''Na vratih zvečer = At the Door at Evening'' (poetry) (Dorion, Quebec & Ljubljana: The Muses' Co., Aleph, 1990).
*''Embers in the house of night : selected poems of Edvard Kocbek'' (Santa Fe, New Mexico: Lumen, 1999).
*''Nothing Is Lost: Selected Poems'' (Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2004).
Further reading
*
Viktor Blažič
Viktor Blažič (19 July 1928 – 25 June 2014) was a Slovenian journalist, essayist, translator and former anti-Communist dissident.
He was born in the village of Smolenja Vas near Novo Mesto in south-eastern Slovenia, then part of the Kingdom ...
and
Niko Grafenauer
Niko Grafenauer
(born 5 December 1940) is a Slovenian poet, essayist, literary historian, editor and translator. He is particularly known as author of popular children literature, and for his active participation in the Slovenian public life, e ...
, eds., ''Krogi navznoter, krogi navzven : Kocbekov zbornik'' (Ljubljana:
Nova revija, 2004).
*
Janez Gradišnik, ed., Človek je utihnil: spominu Edvarda Kocbeka (Celje: Mohorjeva družba, 1983).
*
Spomenka Hribar
Spomenka Hribar (born 25 January 1941) is a Slovenian author, philosopher, sociologist, politician, columnist, and public intellectual. She was one of the most influential Slovenian intellectuals in the 1980s, and was frequently called "the Firs ...
, ''Edvard Kocbek in Križarsko gibanje'' (Maribor: Obzorja, 1990).
*Spomenka Hribar, ''Svetotvornost poezije : hierofanija v poeziji Edvarda Kocbeka'' (Ljubljana: Nova revija, 2002).
*
Andrej Inkret, ''In stoletje bo zardelo. Kocbek, življenje in delo'' (Ljubljana: Založba Modrijan, 2011).
*Peter Kersche, Literatur und Engagement (Klagenfurt: Kitab, 2004).
*
Franc Miklavčič, Edvard Kocbek - mislec in videc prihodnjih reči (Ljubljana: ZZB NOB, 1997).
*
Igor Omerza, ''Edvard Kocbek – osebni dosje št. 584'' (Ljubljana: Založba Karantanija, 2010).
*
Boris Pahor, ''La lirica di Edoardo Kocbek'' (Padua: Padova University Press, 2010).
*
Dimitrij Rupel, ed., ''Kocbekov zbornik'' (Maribor: Obzorja, 1987).
*Joanna Sławińska, ''Poetycka kosmogonia Edvarda Kocbeka'' (Kraków: Universitas, 1993).
*John Taylor, "A Generous and Courageous Lucidity" In: Into the Heart of European Poetry (New Brunswick, NJ: Transactions, 2009).
See also
*
Slovenian literature
*
History of Slovenia
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocbek, Edvard
1904 births
1981 deaths
People from Sveti Jurij ob Ščavnici
People from the Duchy of Styria
Slovenian poets
Slovenian male poets
Slovenian essayists
Slovenian male short story writers
Slovenian short story writers
Slovenian translators
Yugoslav poets
Yugoslav writers
Yugoslav translators
Prešeren Award laureates
University of Ljubljana alumni
Slovenian Roman Catholics
Slovenian Catholic poets
Slovenian Christian socialists
Slovenian people of World War II
Yugoslav Partisans members
Slovenian anti-fascists
Ethnic Slovene people
20th-century translators
20th-century poets
Catholic socialists
20th-century short story writers
20th-century essayists
20th-century Slovenian writers
20th-century male writers
Burials at Žale