PREŠEREN France

PREŠEREN France (December 3, 1800, Vrba, Slovenia - February 8, 1849, Kranj, Slovenia), the greatest Slovenian poet.

The day of his death is also Prešeren's day. Since 1991, this day has also been a public holiday. At the central celebration of Prešeren Day, the highest awards for achievements in the field of culture are awarded - the Prešeren Award.

Prešeren was born into a farming family at Vrba in Gorenjska, Slovenia. Since the Prešern family's farm was respectable, France was able to go to school. At first, he was educated by his uncle, a priest in Kopanje near Grosuplje. From 1810 he attended folk school in Ribnica and was recorded in the golden book as an excellent student. Two years later, he continued his education in Ljubljana. In 1822, he enrolled at the Faculty of Law in Vienna. After finishing his studies, he returned to Ljubljana and got a job as a lawyer. It was during this time that he wrote most of his songs, guided by his friend Matija Čop. He is the first Slovene who, in terms of the quality of his writing, was able to compare himself with his contemporaries in Europe, where the romantic orientation reigned.

His life path was full of various trials, one of them being his unhappy love for Primic's Julija, to whom he also dedicated the "Sonnet wreath", which he wrote in 1834. At the same time, he also wrote other love poems. He met Primic Julija in the Trnovo church on April 6, 1833. He had three children with the poor maid Ana Jelovšek - Terezia, Ernestina and Franca. Unfortunately, during his lifetime he did not receive the kind of recognition that he has today. In the last years of his life, he faced depression and problems with alcohol, which was the cause of his death.

In 1844, he wrote the poem "Zdravljica", the 7th stanza of which is today the Slovenian national anthem. It had to wait until 1848 for publication. In 1991, Stanko Premrl set the song to music for a choir.

The poet's life is divided into three time periods - the youthful period (1824-1828), the mature period (1828-1840) and the late period (after 1840). In 1847, he published his best poems in "Poezije". His well-known poems are: Povodni mož (Flood Man(, Lenora, Love Sonnets, Fun Sonnets, Gazelles, Sonnet Wreath, Farewell to Youth, Farewell to Turjaška Rozamunda, Illegitimate Mother, Baptism at Savica, Neizrtohjneno srce and Zdravljica.