The directory «Plots»

Trdina Janez
(1830—1905)

Janez Trdina was born in Mengeš. After finishing grammar school in Ljubljana, he continued his studies in Vienna, where he graduated in history and geography. Working as a teacher Varaždnin and Reka (Croatia), he came in conflict with school authorities because of his freethinking and nationalism. He was suspended in 1866 and retired a year after. He moved to Novo mesto, Slovenia, and travelled widely across the Dolenjska region observing the life and customs of local people and making notes about it. His notebooks filled with folk sayings, folk tales, anecdotes and customs later served as a source of material for his writing. Also, they are important ethnological and sociological studies. Trdina published his early prose and poetry in various newspapers such as "Ljubljanski časnik", "Slovenija", "Slovenska bčela" and "Novice". In his tales, he twisted folk tradition to suit his beliefs. Among his early works were two scientific essays "Discussion on Slovenian Poets", where he expressed his admiration of Slovenia's greatest poet France Prešeren, and "History of the Slovenian Nation" describing for the first time the whole history of the nation in the Slovene language. In 1881 the "Ljubljanski zvon" newspaper started publishing his "Religious Tales of the Dolenjska Region", which were noted for their originality and beauty. Their popularity led to the creation of the "Tales and Stories of the Gorjanci Hills" which began appearing in the same newspaper a year later. Trdina originally planned to write 100 tales for the newspaper, but as he was soon criticized for the anti-German and anti-clerical views expressed in his work, the newspaper stopped publishing the tales. The collection of his work was published posthumously.

Slovenia, 2005, Janez Tridna

Slovenia, 2005.01.21, Mengeš. Janez Tridna