Ján Smrek

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Ján Smrek

Ján Smrek , born as Ján Čietek (born December 16, 1898 in Nemesmogyoród ( Slov. Zemianske Lieskové), Austria-Hungary , today part of Melčice-Lieskové , Slovakia ; † December 8, 1982 in Bratislava ) was a Slovak writer and editor.

Life

Ján Smrek was the son of a small farmer. He received his first school education in Adamóckohonóc (Slov. Adamovské Kochanovce), Trenčín County . After his father's death in 1907, he became a pupil of the Evangelical Orphanage in Modern . In the years 1917–1918 he was a participant in the First World War and served on the front in Palestine , where he fell ill with malaria . He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army and did not return to his homeland via detours until 1919.

Smrek studied from 1919 to 1921 at the teachers' college in Modra and then until 1924 Protestant theology at the University of Bratislava . From 1925 to 1929 he was editor of the newspaper Národné novíny in Martin . In addition, he edited the Edíciu mladých slovenských autorov (EMSA - Edition of Young Slovak Authors) until 1938 . From 1930 he published the literary magazine Elán in Prague . In Prague he also met his future wife, Blanka Čieteková - Smreková, whom he married on September 24, 1934.

Ján Smrek was a proponent of vitalism . He was a passionate lover of life. The cycle Básnik a žena ( Eng . "The poet and the woman") , published in 1934, took an exceptional place in his work . This extraordinary work reflects the relationship between man and woman in a meditation. He sees the inspiration of art in the love and eroticism of women .

During the Second World War , Smrek returned to Slovakia and settled in Bratislava. There he published the magazine Elán again in 1946-47. In 1948 he fell out of favor with the new communist rulers of the people's democratic Czechoslovakia and was banned from publishing. That is why he mainly devoted himself to translation during this time. Above all, he translated Hungarian and French authors.

In collaboration with the Slovak composer Ján Cikker , Smrek wrote the libretto for his opera Beg Bajazid (Prince Bajazid) between 1955 and 1956.

In 1968 his memoirs appeared under the title Poézia, moja láska (Poetry, my love). Smrek died on December 8, 1982 in Bratislava and was buried in the Slovak National Cemetery in St. Martin an der Turz .

Grave of Ján Smrek and his wife in the Slovak National Cemetery in St. Martin

Along with Ivan Krasko and Ján Kostra, Ján Smrek was one of the most important poets in modern Slovak literature.

Works

author

  • Odsúdený k vecitej žízni , 1922
  • Cválajúce dni , 1925
  • Božské uzly , 1929
  • Iba oči , 1933
  • Básnik a žena , 1934
  • Zrno , 1935
  • Hostina , 1944
  • Studňa , 1945
  • Beg Bajazid , libretto for the opera by Ján Cikker , 1957
  • Obraz sveta , 1958
  • Struny , 1962
  • Mr. Scrooge , libretto after Charles Dickens for the opera by Ján Cikker, 1963
  • Písané na sude , 1964
  • Nerušte moje kruhy , 1965
  • Poézia, moja láska 1968

editor

Ján Smrek Prize

In the summer of 1998, on the 100th birthday of the poet, the 18th World Poets Congress took place in Bratislava. The Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer , who was to receive the Nobel Prize in 2011, was awarded the Ján Smrek Prize at the congress.

From 2000 to 2011, an international Ján Smrek Festival took place in Bratislava and other cities in western Slovakia. During this festival, the Ján Smrek Prize was awarded to important contemporary poets (including Tuvia Rübner , Reiner Kunze , Gennadij Ajgi , Anise Koltz , Friederike Mayröcker , Pia Tafdrup , Knut Ødegård, Mateja Matevski ).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Blanka Čieteková - Smreková, b. Koucká (born November 30, 1910, † May 4, 2002 in Bratislava) worked for Siemens-Halske before she got married . However, she was also very interested in literature and wrote several poems of her own, which only appeared anonymously in print. From her marriage to Ján Smrek, she had three children (a daughter and two sons.)
personal data
SURNAME Smrek, Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Čietek, Ján (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovak writer and editor
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Zemianske Lieskové
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1982
Place of death Bratislava