Gregor Strniša (18 November 1930 – 23 January 1987) 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 ...

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 wr ...

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 ...

, and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. He is considered one of the most important Slovene-language poet of the second half of the 20th century. He spent most of his life away from public light, and has gained widespread recognition only after his death.

Life

Strniša 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 ...

, then part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

, to his father Gustav Strniša (1887–1970), himself a

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

writer, and mother Alojzija, as their fourth child. He was accused together with his parents, who were involved in helping Slovene political emigrants across the border to the West, of "organizing an underground anti-Communist opposition and of revealing state secrets" by the

Titoist Titoism is a political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War. It is characterized by a broad Yugoslav identity, workers' self-management, a political separation from the Soviet Union, and leadership in the ...

regime and was in 1949 sentenced to four years in prison, but was released after two years on probation while a high school student at the Classical

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...

of Ljubljana.http://s2.ned.univie.ac.at/lic/autor.asp?paras=/lg;26/aut_id;16554/& He went on to study languages 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 got his diploma in 1961 after studying the German and English languages. During his study he also attended classes in ancient languages and learned

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 ...

, and the basics of Sumerian and

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform, early writing system * Akkadian myt ...

. As a co-founder of the alternative journal '' Revija 57'', he joined young Slovene intellectuals and dissidents challenging the

cultural policies Cultural policy is the government actions, laws and programs that regulate, protect, encourage and financially (or otherwise) support activities related to the arts and creative sectors, such as painting, sculpture, music, dance, literature, ...

of the

regime. Strniša was known for never having moved from his native Ljubljana, except for a few short trips across Yugoslavia. In 1985, he was granted a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

to travel to the United States, but decided to stay in Slovenia. In 1963, he met the young poet Svetlana Makarovič, with whom he had a short romantic relationship. In 1970 he met Thea Skinder. They married in 1974 and had one daughter. He died in Ljubljana in 1987, and was buried in Žale Central Cemetery.

Work

Poetry and plays

Strniša is most renowned for his poetry, based on a highly metaphysical poetic view, and his poetic plays. His poems express a

cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...

directed against the

anthropocentrism Anthropocentrism (; ) is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe. The term can be used interchangeably with humanocentrism, and some refer to the concept as human supremacy or human exceptionalism. F ...

of traditional literature.http://s2.ned.univie.ac.at/lic/autor.asp?paras=/lg;26/lt;26/aut_id;16554/link;4/id;4961/ His poems, exploring multiple universes, interconnected through a mysterious and magical fate, have been translated into English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Greek, Russian, Belorussian, Czech, Polish, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Albanian, Turkish and Esperanto. His most well known plays include ''Samorog'' (Unicorn) and ''Žabe'' (Frogs) which were translated into Serbian, and ''Ljudožerci'' (Cannibals) which was translated into German. In 1986, he received the

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award ( sl, Prešernova nagrada), also called the Grand Prešeren Award ( sl, Velika Prešernova nagrada), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each yea ...

, the highest prize for literary achievements in Slovenia. His work has been examined by 26 university diploma theses.

Songwriting

After graduation in 1961, he mostly made his living as a songwriter, writing the lyrics for a number of Slovenian pop songs, including the 1962 song "

The Earth is Dancing "The Earth is Dancing" (in Slovene: "''Zemlja pleše''") is a 1962 pop song, music of which was written by Mojmir Sepe based on a lyrics by Slovene poet Gregor Strniša that was awarded at the first edition of the Slovenian song festival where it ...

," which won an award at the first Slovenian song festival. Despite it, he considered songwriting a degradation compared to writing poetry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strnisa, Gregor Slovenian poets Slovenian male poets Slovenian dramatists and playwrights Yugoslav science fiction writers Writers from Ljubljana University of Ljubljana alumni Prešeren Award laureates 1930 births 1987 deaths 20th-century poets 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Burials at Žale