Frane Milčinski (pen name Ježek; 14 December 1914 – 27 February 1988) was a Slovene poet,

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-1960 ...

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business ...

and comedian, actor,

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, and director. He is considered one of Slovenia's foremost 20th-century satirists and entertainers.

Life

Milčinski was born 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 a ...

in 1914 as the third child of the writer and judge

Fran Milčinski Fran Milčinski (3 December 1867 – 24 October 1932), also known by the pen name Fridolin Žolna, was a Slovene lawyer, writer and playwright. Life Fran Milčinski was born in Lož, a town in Inner Carniola, which was then part of Austria-H ...

. During World War II he was interned at the

Gonars concentration camp The Gonars concentration camp was one of the several Italian concentration camps and it was established on February 23, 1942, near Gonars, Italy. Many internees were transferred to this camp from the other Italian concentration camp, Rab concen ...

. He was married to the writer and journalist Jana Milčinski.

Work

He worked in the theatre and radio from an early age.

Awards

Throughout his career, Milčinski won numerous awards. The 1951 film ''

Kekec Kekec is a fictional children's literature character created by Slovenian author Josip Vandot in 1918. He was first introduced in the serial "Kekec on the Hard Path" () in ''Zvonček'' magazine (volume 19, issue 1/2). He is a young shepherd boy ...

'', for which he co-wrote the screenplay and theme song "Dobra volja je najbolja," won the first international award for a Slovene feature film when it won a Golden Lion in the children's film category at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

in 1952. Milčinski also won the

Levstik Award The Levstik Award ( sl, Levstikova nagrada) is a literary award in Slovenia awarded for achievements in children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1949 by the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House, making it the first literary award established ...

in 1959 for his story '' Zvezdica Zaspanka'' (The Sleepy Little Star). In 1975 he won the Grand Prešeren Award for lifetime achievement in radio, television, film, and literature.

Legacy

The Ježek Award for creative achievement in radio and television is named after him; it has been bestowed annually since 1989 by Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization,

Radiotelevizija Slovenija Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...

.Radiotelevizija Slovenija site
/ref>

Selected prose

* ''13 in ena: humoreske Franeta Milčinskega – Ježka'' (13 and One: Humorous Stories by Frane Milčinski, a.k.a. Ježek, 1951) * ''Zvezdica Zaspanka'' (The Sleepy Little Star, 1959) * ''Legenda o birokratu'' (A Legend about a Bureaucrat, 1961) * ''Desetnica in druge pravljice'' (The Tenth Daughter and Other Tales, 1964) * ''Govoreči bankovec: antologija slovenske humoristične proze'' (The Talking Banknote: An Anthology of Slovene Humorous Prose, 1976) * ''Preprosta ljubezen'' (Simple Love, 1987) * ''Ta svet je pesmi vreden'' (This World Is Worthy of a Song, 1988) * ''Humoreske'' (Humorous Stories, 1998) * ''13 + 8 humoresk'' (13 + 8 Humorous Stories, 2003)

Screenplays

* ''

'' (1951) * '' Svet na Kajžarju'' (1952) * ''

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 ass ...

'' (1953) * ''

The Beginning Was Sin ''The Beginning Was Sin'' (German: ''Am Anfang war es Sünde'') is a 1954 West-German-Yugoslavian drama film directed by František Čáp and starring Ruth Niehaus, Viktor Staal and Hansi Knoteck. The film's sets were designed by the art directo ...

'' (1954) * '' Ne čakaj na maj'' (1957) * ''Dobri stari pianino'' (1959) * ''Zvezdica Zaspanka'' (1965)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milcinski, Frane Slovenian children's writers Slovenian poets Slovenian male poets Slovenian comedians Slovenian male film actors Slovenian radio personalities 1914 births 1988 deaths Prešeren Award laureates Levstik Award laureates Writers from Ljubljana 20th-century Slovenian male actors 20th-century poets 20th-century comedians