Matej Bor was the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Vladimir Pavšič (14 April 1913 – 29 September 1993), who was a Slovene

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 ...

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 ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, and Partisan.

Biography

Matej Bor was born as Vladimir Pavšič in the village of

Grgar Grgar (; it, Gargaro) is a village in western Slovenia in the Municipality of Nova Gorica. It is located under Holy Mount ( sl, Sveta gora), above the Soča Valley and below the Banjšice Plateau. Name Grgar was mentioned in written sources 1370 ...

near

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gori ...

, in what was then 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: ...

County of Gorizia and Gradisca and is today part of the

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 municipality of

Nova Gorica A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...

. After the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

annexation of the

Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...

in 1920, the family moved to

Celje ) , pushpin_map = Slovenia , pushpin_label_position = left , pushpin_map_caption = Location of the city of Celje in Slovenia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Cou ...

, which was then part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

. After finishing his studies at the Celje High School, Vladimir 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 Slovene and Slavic philology. After graduation, he worked as a journalist and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

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 ...

. When the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941, he escaped from

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-occupied Maribor to the Italian-occupied

Province of Ljubljana The Province of Ljubljana ( it, Provincia di Lubiana, sl, Ljubljanska pokrajina, german: Provinz Laibach) was the central-southern area of Slovenia. In 1941, it was annexed by Fascist Italy, and after 1943 occupied by Nazi Germany. Created on May ...

. In the summer of the same year he joined the

Communist 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, ...

-led partisan resistance, where he worked in the area of culture and propaganda. During the People's Liberation War he emerged as one of the major poets of the Slovene resistance. Several of his battle songs became hugely popular. One of them, Hey, Brigades, became the unofficial anthem of Slovene partisan forces during

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 ...

. It was during this period that he started to use the pseudonym ''Matej Bor'', which he continued to use also after the war. In 1944, he moved to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

which had just been liberated by the Yugoslav partisans. There he worked at the Slovene section of ''Radio Free Yugoslavia'', led by

Boris Ziherl Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...

. Among his colleagues in Belgrade were the authors Igo Gruden,

Edvard Kocbek Edvard Kocbek () (27 September 1904 – 3 November 1981) was a Slovenian poet, writer, essayist, translator, member of Christian Socialists in the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation and Slovene Partisans. He is considered one of the best au ...

and Anton Ingolič. In 1945 he moved back to

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 ar ...

, where he dedicated himself to writing and translating. He received the highest recognition for cultural achievements in Slovenia, the Prešeren Award in 1947 and again in 1952. In 1965 he became a member of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts. In the 1960s and 1970s he was the president of the Slovenian section of the International P.E.N. During the period of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, he often used his influence to help dissidents or to sponsor causes challenging official policies. In the 1960s, he publicly criticized the imprisonment of the

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

dissident writer Mihajlo Mihajlov. He was one of the founders of the

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

movements in

in the early 1970s. He also voiced his support for the heritage protection movement which fought against the demolishing of historic buildings in Ljubljana (such as the Kozler's Palace). In the late 1970s and early 1980s he led the platform for the rehabilitation of the victims of

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

show trials in Slovenia (the so-called Dachau trials of 1947). In 1984 he helped the writer

Igor Torkar Igor Torkar was the pen name of Boris Fakin (13 October 1913 – 1 January 2004), a Slovenian writer, playwright, and poet best known for his literary descriptions of Communist repression in Yugoslavia after World War II. Life Torkar was born ...

to publish a novel on his experiences in the Goli Otok concentration camp. In the 1980s Bor researched and attempted to translate

Venetic Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language, usually classified into the Italic subgroup, that was spoken by the Veneti people in ancient times in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli) and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po Delta and ...

inscriptions by using Slovene and its dialects. Together with

Jožko Šavli Jožko Šavli (March 22, 1943March 11, 2011) was a Slovene author, self-declared historian and high school teacher in economic sciences from Italy. Šavli was born in Tolmin, then part of the Kingdom of Italy (now in Slovenia). He obtained a ...

and Ivan Tomažič, he advocated the theory of the Venetic origins of Slovenes, claiming that the

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, History ...

are the descendants of a pre-

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

Slavic-speaking people called the ''Veneti''. None of the three men were linguists, and the theory was soon rejected by scholars, but launched a long controversy in which Bor played a prominent role. He died in Ljubljana.

Work

Bor published a number of poetry collections. His first collection, called ''Previharimo viharje'', was published during the

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers wer ...

resistance fight in 1942 by an underground publishing house. In 1959 he published the book ''Šel je popotnik skozi atomski vek'' (A Wanderer Went Through the Atom Age), an apocalyptic poetic reflection on the environmental disasters in the Atomic Age. The book was republished in several editions and was translated into the major European languages and contributed to Bor's popularity outside Yugoslavia. Bor also wrote twelve plays and a number of literary works for children and youth. He was a regular contributor to publications for children and teenagers such as ''Ciciban'', ''Pionir'', ''Pionirski list'', ''Najdihojca'' (a supplement of the journal ''

Delo ''Delo'' (russian: Дело) is a business oriented online media in Ukraine, belonging to ekonomika+ media holding. ''Delo'' was the first daily in Ukraine, publishing its real print circulation (13.000 - 15.000) and trying to introduce Western e ...

''), ''Mali Rod'' (

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

) and ''The Voice of Youth'' (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

). He also wrote the screenplay for the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

Vesna Vesna (Cyrillic: Весна) was a mythological female character associated with youth and springtime in early Slavic mythology, particularly within Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Slovenia. Along with her male companion Vesnik, she was asso ...

'', which was released in 1954. He translated a number of works by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

into Slovene. Bor is also remembered for discovering the "letter rules" of the Venetian alphabet and Venetian grammar. His claims have been rejected by scholars.

Essential bibliography

Main poetry collections

*''Previharimo viharje'' (1942) *''Pesmi'' (Poems, 1944) *''Pesmi'' (Poems, 1946) *''Bršljan nad jezom'' (Ivy on the Dam, 1951) *''Sled naših senc'' (The Trace of our Shadows, 1958) *''Podoknice tišini'' (Serenades to Silence, 1983) *''Sto manj en epigram'' (A Hundred but One Epigram, 1985)

Youth literature

* ''Uganke'' (Riddles, 1951) * ''Slike in pesmi o živalih'' (Images and Songs About Animals, 1956) * ''Sračje sodišče ali je, kar je'' (The Raven Court or Whatever Is Done is Done, 1961) * ''Pesmi za Manjo'' (Songs for Manja, 1985) * ''Ropotalo in ptice'' (The Scarecrow and Birds, 1985) * ''Palčki - pihalčki'' (Dwarves, 1991)

Discography

* ''Zajček'' (1968) * ''Partizan'' (1980) * ''Jutri Gremo V Napad'' (1988) * ''Hej Brigade'' (2006) (published posthumly)

English translations

*''A Wanderer Went Through the Atom Age'', (London: Adam Books, 1959). *''A Wanderer in the Atom Age'' (Ljubljana: Državna založba Slovenije, 1970). *''An Anthology of Modern Yugoslav Poetry'', edited by Janko Lavrin (London: J. Calder, 1962).

Sources

*Marija Arh, ''Primernost Borovih pesmi za učence od 1. do 4. razreda OŠ: diplomsko delo'' (Ljubljana: M. Arh, 1993), 13-15, 48-50. *

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 ...

, ''Svinčena leta'' (Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1999). * Janko Kos, ''Pregled slovenskega slovstva'' (Ljubljana: DZS, 2002), 359. *

, ''Umiranje na obroke'', preface by Matej Bor (Ljubljana: Delo, 1984). *

Ciril Zlobec Ciril Zlobec (4 July 1925 – 24 August 2018) was a Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and former politician. He is best remembered for his poems, publishing several volumes of poetry in his lifetime. In 1990 he became a member of the P ...

, ''Spomin kot zgodba: avtobiografski roman'' (Ljubljana: Prešernova družba, 1998).
Document on Bor's role in the Yugoslav P.E.N.
at the

Blinken Open Society Archives Blinken Open Society Archives (abbreviated as Blinken OSA) is an archival repository and laboratory that aims to explore new ways of assessing, contextualizing, presenting, and making use of archival documents both in a professional and a conscio ...

Biography of Igo Gruden with reference to Bor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bor, Matej 1913 births 1993 deaths People from the City Municipality of Nova Gorica People from Gorizia Ethnic Slovene people Slovenian poets Slovenian male poets Slovenian translators Yugoslav poets Yugoslav translators Yugoslav science fiction writers English–Slovene translators Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Presidents of the Slovene Writers' Association 20th-century translators 20th-century poets 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Yugoslav Partisans members University of Ljubljana alumni Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Prešeren Award laureates