Fran Saleški Finžgar
| Fran Saleški Finžgar | |
|---|---|
Fran Saleški Finžgar (1931)
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| Born |
February 9, 1871 Doslovče |
| Died | June 2, 1962 (aged 91) Ljubljana |
| Occupation | Roman Catholic priest, novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, translator |
| Language | Slovene |
| Notable works |
Pod svobodnim soncem (1906–1907) Mister Torrent (1941) |
| Notable awards |
Prešeren Award (1951) Levstik Award (1953) |
Fran Saleški Finžgar (February 9, 1871 – June 2, 1962) was perhaps the most popular Slovene folk writer. He is particularly known for his novels and short stories, although he also wrote poems and plays.
Fran Saleški Finžgar was born into a poor peasant family in the Upper Carniolan village of Doslovče, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After finishing primary education in the town of Radovljica, he attended secondary school in Ljubljana between 1882 and 1891, continuing his education at the theological college. He was ordained priest in 1894 and worked in various parishes in Upper Carniola and Ljubljana until 1936, when he retired. He died in Ljubljana at the age of 91 and was buried at the Žale cemetery.
Politically, Finžgar was close to the Christian Socialist ideals of the Slovenian Catholic political activist and leader Janez Evangelist Krek. He was also an admirer and friend of the Social Democratic author Ivan Cankar, whom he even catered at his deathbed in 1918. During World War II, he collaborated with the Communist-led Liberation Front of the Slovenian People, which led him to some conflict with the then bishop of Ljubljana, Gregorij Rožman.
The Finžgar House in Doslovče was frequented by many intellectuals from the area, particularly by his best friend Izidor Cankar, an influential art historian and manager. The ethnologist Janez Bogataj, whose mother was Finžgar's niece, spent his first 15 years in Finžgar's company and arranged his birth house for public in 1971. Finžgar's close friend and personal advisor was also the architect Jože Plečnik. When Finžgar served as a priest in the parish of Trnovo in Ljubljana, Plečnik was his neighbour. In the late 1920s, Finžgar commissioned the renovation of the Trnovo parish church to his architect friend.
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