Marjan Rožanc (; 21 November 1930 – 18 September 1990) was a Slovenian author, playwright, and journalist. He is mostly known for his essays, and is considered one of the foremost essayists in Slovene, along with

Ivan Cankar Ivan Cankar (, ) (10 May 1876 – 11 December 1918) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet, and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in S ...

Jože Javoršek Jože Javoršek was the pen name of Jože Brejc (October 20, 1920 – September 2, 1990), a Slovenian playwright, writer, poet, translator and essayist.Drago Jančar Drago Jančar (; born 13 April 1948) is a Slovenian writer, playwright and essayist. Jančar is one of the most well-known contemporary Slovene writers. In Slovenia, he is also famous for his political commentaries and civic engagement. Jančar' ...

, and as a great master of style. He was born in the village of Devica Marija v Polju (now part of the

Polje District The Polje District (; ), or simply Polje, is a district () of the City Municipality of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is named after the former village of Polje. Geography The Polje District is bounded on the west by the A1 Freeway, on ...

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

), Slovenia (then part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

). He attended high school during World War Two, when the

Province of Ljubljana The Province of Ljubljana (, , ) was the central-southern area of Slovenia. In 1941, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, and after 1943 occupied by Nazi Germany. Created on May 3, 1941, it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when the Slovene Parti ...

was part of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. After the war, he briefly worked as a manual worker. In 1950, he was drafted into the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

, and he served in

Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čač ...

, Serbia. Because of his non-comformist attitudes, he was accused of "hostile propaganda" against the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He was released in 1955 and returned to Slovenia. He settled in

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

, where he started a career as a journalist. In the early 1950s, he moved back to Ljubljana, where he took up a career as a freelance writer and columnist. He became involved in a circle of young intellectuals known as the

Critical Generation Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...

. He also became a close friend of the

Christian Socialist A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

poet

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

and the existentialist playwright

Dominik Smole Dominik Smole (24 August 1929 – 29 July 1992) was a Slovenian writer and playwright. Biography Smole was born in Ljubljana in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He attended school in Ljubljana and after the end of World War II he was em ...

. Later, he grew closer to Christian ideals, especially through the influence of Christian existentialist thinkers such as

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

and

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (; ; 29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical ...

. He became a co-editor of the alternative independent literary journal '' Perspektive'' and later also the director of the experimental theatre called Stage 57 (''Oder 57''). In 1964, the theatre tried to stage one of Rožanc's critical plays, ''Topla greda'' (The Greenhouse), but the Communist regime violently interrupted the staging. Rožanc established connections with Slovene

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

intellectuals from

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

(Italy), critical towards the Yugoslav Communist system, and published several articles in the journal ''Most'', edited by

Boris Pahor Boris Pahor, OMRI (; 26 August 1913 – 30 May 2022) was a Slovene novelist from Trieste, Italy, who was best known for his heartfelt descriptions of life as a member of the Slovenian minority in pre–Second World War increasingly fascist Ita ...

and

Alojz Rebula Alojz Rebula (June 21, 1924 – October 23, 2018) was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, and translator, and a prominent member of the Slovene minority in Italy. He lived and worked in Villa Opicina in the Province of Trieste, Italy. He wa ...

. He was sentenced to two and a half years, but released on parole. In the 1970s, he worked as a sports manager in Ljubljana. In 1979, he published his best-known novel, ''Ljubezen'' (Love), an autobiographical account of the everyday life of a child in Ljubljana during World War Two. In the same year, he settled in the

Karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

region in the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral, or simply Littoral (, ; ; ), is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. The littoral in its name – for a coastal-adjacent area – recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg poss ...

, and continued to publish essays and short stories in various Slovenian journals. In 1987, he was among the authors of the

Contributions to the Slovenian National Program Contribution may refer to: Music * ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990) ** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album *''Contribution'', a 1976 album by Shawn Phillips * A contribution concert is where a band plays in the son ...

. In 1990, he actively supported the candidature of

Jože Pučnik Jože Pučnik (9 March 1932 – 11 January 2003) was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, he was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil ...

President of Slovenia The president of Slovenia, officially the president of the Republic of Slovenia (), is the head of state of Slovenia. The office was established on 23 December 1991 when the National Assembly (Slovenia), National Assembly passed a new ...

, but he never joined any political party or organization. He died in Ljubljana. In 1993, the

Rožanc Award The Rožanc Award () is a literary award in Slovenia awarded each year for the best collection of essays in Slovene. It has been bestowed since 1993. It is named after the author, playwright and journalist Marjan Rožanc Marjan Rožanc (; 21 N ...

for the best essay in Slovene was named after him.

References

External links

Literature in Context
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozanc, Marjan Writers from Ljubljana Journalists from Ljubljana Slovenian Roman Catholics 1930 births 1990 deaths Prešeren Award laureates 20th-century Slovenian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Slovenian essayists 20th-century Slovenian journalists Slovenian magazine editors Slovenian columnists