The directory «Plots»

Prešern France
(1800—1849)

France Prešern was born on 3 December 1800 in the Gorenjska region to a peasant family. After finishing grammar school, he decided to pursue his studies in Vienna where he graduated in law in 1928. Even though he qualified as a solicitor and passed the judicial exam, he was unable to open his own practise because the authorities disliked his freethinking. It was not until 1846 that he finally opened his own solicitor’s practise in Kranj. He died on 8 February 1849 in Kranj where he is also buried.

France Prešern is the most important Slovene poet and one of the most outstanding European Romantic poets. He introduced to Slovene poetry almost all poetic forms known at the time, in which he was greatly assisted by his friend and mentor Matija Čop.
He created a series of lyric and epic poems and some of the most important are presented below.

The elegy Slovo od mladosti (Farewell to Youth) was one of the first Romantic poems to be written in the Slovene language. In the poem the poet is torn between ideals and reality and he regrets the fact that our carefree youth passes so quickly, while the serenity of life begins so early. Sonetje nesreče (Sonnets of Misfortune) are a series of sonnets reflecting his unhappy life. Sonetni venec (Garland of Sonnets) – this collection of 15 sonnets is the artist's greatest work in terms of content as well as in terms of composition, which harmoniously link together love, poetry and the Slovene nation with the theme of existence. This master’s work is dedicated to the poet's greatest love - Julija Primic. The garland of sonnets is an interplay of love for his sweetheart with love for his country.

The lyrical epic poem Krst pri Savici (The Baptism on the Savica) is Prešern's most comprehensive work, dedicated to the memory of his close friend Matija Čop who drowned while bathing in the river Sava. The poem linking historical and religious subjects (Christianization) to the denouncement of earthly happiness was published as an autonomous book. In it the poet conveys his profound grief over the death of his friend and his unhappy love affair. He published most of his poems in Kranjska čbelica and some of them in the newspaper Illyrisches Blatt. His only collection of poems Poezije (Poetry) (1847) represents the first artistically perfect work in Slovene poetry which can be compared to works of his contemporaries throughout Europe. Prešern was also an excellent translator of poetry written by Bürger, Byron, Körner, Mickiewicz and Grün.

France Prešern's work was translated into many foreign languages. During the National Liberation War the anniversary of his death was proclaimed as the Slovene Cultural Day and it has remained a national holiday until today. Moreover, the most important artistic awards are named after Prešern. And last but not least, his poem Zdravljica (The Toast) was chosen for the national anthem of independent Slovenia.

Slovenia, 1999, France Prešeren

Slovenia, 2007, Coins

Yugoslavia, 1949, Franc Prešern

Yugoslavia, 1949, Franc Prešern

Yugoslavia, 1949, Franc Prešern

Slovenia, 1999.01.22, Kranj. France Prešeren

Slovenia, 1999.01.22, Lubljana. France Prešeren