Vladimir Bartol (24 February 1903 – 12 September 1967) was a writer from the

Slovene minority in Italy Slovene minority in Italy ( it, Minoranza slovena in Italia, sl, Slovenska manjšina v Italiji), also known as Slovenes in Italy ( it, Sloveni in Italia, sl, Slovenci v Italiji) is the name given to Italian citizens who belong to the autochthon ...

. He is best known for his 1938 novel '' Alamut'', the most popular work of

Slovene 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 ...

around the world, which has been translated into numerous languages.

Life

Bartol was born on 24 February 1903 in San Giovanni ( sl, Sveti Ivan), a suburb of the Austro-Hungarian city of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

( sl, Trst) (now in Italy), in a middle class Slovene minority family. His father Gregor Bartol was a post office clerk, and his mother Marica Bartol Nadlišek was a teacher, a renowned editor and feminist author. He was the third child of seven and his parents offered him extensive education. His mother introduced him to painting, while his father shared with him his interest in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

. Bartol began to be interested in philosophy,

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

, and

, but also art, theatre, and literature, as described in his autobiographical

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

. Bartol began his elementary and secondary schooling in

and concluded it in

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 are ...

, where he 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 ...

to study biology and philosophy. In Ljubljana, he met the young Slovene philosopher Klement Jug who introduced him to the works of

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

. Bartol also gave special attention to the works of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...

. He graduated in 1925 and continued his studies at

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris (1926–1927), for which he obtained a scholarship. In 1928, he served the army in

Petrovaradin Petrovaradin ( sr-cyr, Петроварадин, ) is a historic town in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, now a part of the city of Novi Sad. As of 2011, the urban area has 14,810 inhabitants. Lying on the right bank of the Danube, across from t ...

(now in the autonomous province of

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

in Serbia). From 1933 to 1934, he lived in Belgrade, where he edited the ''Slovenian Belgrade Weekly''. Afterward, he returned to Ljubljana where he worked as a freelance writer until 1941. 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he joined

Slovene partisans The Slovene Partisans, formally the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Slovenia, (NOV in POS) were part of Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement Jeffreys-Jones, R. (2013): ''In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western ...

and actively participated in the resistance movement. After the war, he moved to his hometown Trieste, where he spent an entire decade, from 1946 to 1956. Later he was elected to the

Slovenian Academy of Sciences And Arts The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( sl, Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti (SAZU)) is the national academy of Slovenia, which encompasses science and the arts and brings together the top Slovene researchers and artists as members ...

as an associate member, moved to Ljubljana and continued to work for the Academy until his death on 12 September 1967. He is 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 in Ljubljana.

Work

Some of his works, including the 1938 novel ''Alamut'', have been interpreted as an allegory of the

TIGR TIGR, an abbreviation for ''Trst'', ''Istra'', ''Gorica'', and ''Reka'', full name Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March T.I.G.R. ( sl, Revolucionarna organizacija Julijske krajine T.I.G.R.), was a militant anti-fascist and insurgent or ...

and the fight against the Italian repression of the

. ''Alamut'' is set in Persia in the Middle Ages and features the Order of Assassins.

List of works

* ''Lopez'' (1932, a play) * ''Al Araf'' (1935, a collection of short stories) * '' Alamut'' (1938, a novel), translated into

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

(1946), Serbian (1954), French (1988), Spanish, Italian (1989), German (1992), Turkish,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

(1995), English (2004), HungarianVladimir Bartol: Alamut, Hungarian translation by: Klára Körtvélyessy, poems translated by: László Lator, Published by: Európa Könyvkiadó,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, 2005, (2005),

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

and other languages. it is being translated into

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. * ''Tržaške humoreske'' (1957, a collection of short stories) * ''Čudež na vasi'' (1984, novel) * ''Don Lorenzo'' (1985, a story) * ''Mladost pri Svetem Ivanu'' (2001, an autobiography)

References

External links

Slovene Government Public Relations and Media Office Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartol, Vladimir 1903 births 1967 deaths Writers from Trieste Italian Slovenes Slovenian novelists Yugoslav science fiction writers University of Ljubljana alumni University of Paris alumni Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Yugoslav Partisans members Ethnic Slovene people Italian emigrants to Yugoslavia 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Burials at Žale Italian historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Italian expatriates in France

Life

Work

List of works

See also

References

External links