GRADNIK Alojz

GRADNIK Alojz, Slovenian poet, judge and translator (born 3 August 1882, Medana, Slovenia; died 14 July 1967, Ljubljana, Slovenia). He began his schooling in his hometown of Medana, where he finished the first three grades, then passed the entrance exam and continued his education in Gorizia, first at a boys' tutorial, then at a German grammar school. He graduated with honors in 1901. Hoping to be able to study at a distance, he enrolled to study law in Vienna. He made a living as a home teacher with various noble families and in a private boarding school. The last two semesters of study he lived in Vienna, at the end also a short time in Prague. Between 1905 and 1906 he passed three state examinations, in 1907 also a third rigor, and at the end of January became a doctor of law.

He started his career in Gorizia, in Krmin, from where his business path led him to Istria, Rovinj, Vodnjan, Tržič (Monfalcone, Italy), to Tolmin, Cerkno and again to Gorizia. This was followed by a job in Belgrade (1920), from where he went to Ljubljana for surgery due to health problems. Dismissed from work, he returned to his native Medana and went to his brother in Bled for a short time. In 1922 he was employed in Ljubljana at the Higher Regional Court, where he worked intermittently due to his service in Belgrade, Serbia (1929) and Zagreb, Croatia (1936–1941) until his retirement in 1946.

He published his first poem, "Materino gorjé" (Mother's Pain), in 1896, a few years later in the student almanac a cycle of eight poems "V pomladi" (In Spring). The predominant motifs of his poems are love, death, landscape, native Brda country, nature, homeland and others.

Gradnik translated a lot: Serbian, Croatian, Italian, Spanish, English, French, Chinese literature.

He died in 1967 in Ljubljana and was buried in Medana.