Simon Jenko (October 27, 1835 – October 18, 1869) was a Slovene poet, lyricist and writer. Jenko was born in Podreča in the Sora Plain (''Sorško polje'') in

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, now in

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 ...

, as an illegitimate son of poor peasant parents. Later he moved with his parents to Praše, which was the very inspiration for most of his poems and short stories. The local clergy enabled him to study in

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered ...

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

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 ...

. Contrary to their will, however, Jenko decided not to become a priest, but enrolled at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

, where he studied law,

classical philology 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 and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Class ...

, and history. Together with

Fran Levstik Fran Levstik (28 September 1831 – 16 November 1887) was a Slovene writer, political activist, playwright and critic. He was one of the most prominent exponents of the Young Slovene political movement. Life and work Levstik was born in 18 ...

, Josip Jurčič,

Josip Stritar Josip Stritar (6 March 1836 – 25 November 1923) was a Slovene writer, poet, essayist, the first aesthetic critic, playwright, publisher and translator. Life Stritar spent his early childhood in his home village of Podsmreka in rural Lower ...

Simon Gregorčič Simon Gregorčič (15 October 1844 – 24 November 1906) was a Slovene poet and Roman Catholic priest. He is considered the first lyric poet of the Slovene realist poetry and the most melodical Slovene poet. Biography Gregorčič (Oc ...

, and

Fran Erjavec Fran may refer to: People and fictional characters * Fran (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Fran (footballer, born 1969) or Francisco Javier González Pérez * Fran (footballer, born 1972), Spanish retired football ...

, he belonged to the group of prominent

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 ...

that embraced a progressive and nationalist political ideology (often with Pan-Slavic elements) and introduced

literary realism Literary realism is a literary genre, part of the broader realism in arts, that attempts to represent subject-matter truthfully, avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements. It originated with the realist art movement that began with ...

Slovenian literature Slovene literature is the literature written in Slovene. It spans across all literary genres with historically the Slovene historical fiction as the most widespread Slovene fiction genre. The Romantic 19th-century epic poetry written by the lea ...

. He mostly wrote lyrical and patriotic poems, which reveal an influence of late

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. He also wrote short

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

in a realistic style. He was the cousin of the composer

Davorin Jenko Davorin Jenko (born Martin Jenko; 9 November 1835 – 25 November 1914) was a Slovene composer. He is sometimes considered the father of Slovenian national Romantic music. Among other songs, he composed the melody for the Serbian national anthem " ...

. The two composed the song '' Naprej zastava slave'' together, which used to be the unofficial Slovenian

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

up to the 1980s. He died in Kranj. The Jenko Award bestowed each year for the best poetry collection in Slovene published in the previous two years by the

Slovene Writers' Association The Slovene Writers' Association ( sl, Društvo slovenskih pisateljev) 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 be ...

is named after Simon Jenko.

References

See also