Fran Levstik

Fran Levstik died on November 16, 1887, after a long period of serious mental illness, which included delusions of religious nature. He was buried in the Navje cemetery in the Bežigrad district of Ljubljana.

‘The Levstik Award’ presented for achievements in the field of children's literature is named after him.

Fran Levstik was born on September 28, 1831, in Dolnje Retje at Velike Lašče. From an early age he was inclined towards literature and wrote his first poem at the age of 16.

He received his early education in Ljubljana and finished high school in 1854. Then he went to Vienna where he studied theology in Olomouc between 1854 and 1855.

Subsequently, he was enrolled in a seminary in Germany. In 1858, he returned home and started working as a teacher.

In 1853, he published his first prose work titled ‘Bučelstvo’. The following year, his first poetry collection was printed under the title ‘Poems’. In 1855, he presented his first dramatic work titled ‘Human Resource Management’.

In 1858, Fran Levstik published one of his most well-crafted works titled ‘Martin Krpan z Vrha’ (Martin Krpan from Vrh). It tells the story of a Slovenian man, and deals with the tradition and culture of Slovenian people.

In 1858, he also published a travelogue titled ‘Popotovanje od Litije do Čateža’ (A Journey from Litija to Čatež). This work is considered to be of significant importance because of the literary techniques he used in his description of the journey between Litija and Čatež.

In 1859, he published a collection of poems titled ‘Tona's Poems’, the first cycle of his love poetry. The songs mostly celebrated individual moments and happiness at the end of ill-fated love affairs.

In 1861, he was appointed the secretary of Slavyansk reading room in Trieste, where he served for two years. In 1863, he became the editor of Vilharjeva political newspaper, ‘Next’.

One of Fran Levstik’s most acclaimed works is the1858 prose ‘Martin Krpan z Vrha’ (Martin Krpan from Vrh), a short story about the fictional character Martin Krpan which received so much recognition that it became a part of Slovene folklore and made its lead character a folk hero.

His other classic literary works include the literary travelogue titled ‘Popotovanje od Litije do Čateža’( A Journey from Litija to Čatež, 1858), and youth work ‘Kdo je napravilVidkusrajčico’ (Who Made Videk's Shirt,1877).