Miroslav Krleža (July 7, 1893 - December 29, 1981) was arguably the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. Krleza pic File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Biography

Miroslav Krleža was born in Croatia's capital Zagreb. He entered a preparatory military school in Pecuj, Hungary (at that time Croatia was a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire) and, subsequently, Ludiviceum military academy at Budapest. Following a few embarrassing failures (he defected for Serbia in 1912 as a volunteer for Serbian army, but was kicked out as a suspected spy and, on top of that, when back in Croatia, demoted in Austro-Hungarian army and sent as a common soldier to the Eastern front in the World War I), Krleža has in the post-WWI period established himself both as a major modernist writer and politically controversial figure in Yugoslavia, a newly created country which encompassed South Slavic lands of former Habsburg Empire and kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro. Zagreb (pronounced ZAH-greb) is the capital city of Croatia. ... Pécs Main Square Pécs (Croatian Pečuh, German Fünfkirchen, Slovak Päťkostolie, Turkish Peçuy) is one of the five largest cities of Hungary, located in the south-west of the country. ... Official languages Latin, German, Hungarian Established church Roman Catholic Capital & Largest City Vienna pop. ... Budapest (pronounced BOO-dah-pesht, IPA ), the capital city of Hungary and the countrys principal political, industrial, commercial and transportation centre, has more than 1. ... Serbia and Montenegro  – Serbia    – Kosovo and Metohia        (UN administration)    – Vojvodina  – Montenegro Official language Serbian1 Capital Belgrade Area  – Total  – % water  88,361 km²  n/a Population  – Total (2002)     (without Kosovo)  – Density  7. ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. ... The Eastern Front refers to a theatre of war during the first World War in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye, 1929-30: The modern style is noted for its rigorous geometrical forms, and became adopted internationally, though not without continuing controversy Modernism in the cultural historical sense is generally defined as the new artistic and literary styles that emerged in the decades before 1914 as... The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a Balkan state which existed from December 1, 1918 to mid-April 1941. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ... Serbia and Montenegro  – Serbia    – Kosovo and Metohia        (UN administration)    – Vojvodina  – Montenegro Official language Serbian1 Capital Belgrade Area  – Total  – % water  88,361 km²  n/a Population  – Total (2002)     (without Kosovo)  – Density  7. ... Serbia and Montenegro  – Serbia    – Kosovo and Metohia        (UN administration)    – Vojvodina  – Montenegro Official language Serbian Capital Podgorica Former Royal Capital Cetinje President Filip Vujanović Prime Minister Milo Đukanović Area  – Total  – % water  13,812 km²  n/a Population  – Total (2003)  – Density  616,258  48. ...

Member of Yugoslav Communist Party from 1918 to 1939 (he was expelled because of his unorthodox views on art, intellectual freedom and unwillingness to give open support to Stalin's purges), Krleža was the driving force behind literary and political reviews «Književna republika» (1923), «Danas» (1934) and «Pečat» (1939). Undoubtedly the dominant figure in cultural life of both Yugoslav states, the monarchist one (1918-1941) and the Communist one (1945 - until his death in 1981), he was, ironically, marginalized in the pro-Nazi puppet «Independent State of Croatia» (1941-1945). Krleža spent this period in Zagreb, frequently harassed by government forces (he didn't publish anything during these years), but nevertheless, fearing the brutality and zeal of his Communist ex-comrades refused to join the partisans headed by his old friend, Communist leader Josip Broz Tito. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia (after 1952 the League of Communists of Yugoslavia) was the ruling party of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 until the 1991. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) was a Nazi/Fascist puppet state in World War II. It was set up in April 1941 on parts of the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after its occupation. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Zagreb (pronounced ZAH-greb) is the capital city of Croatia. ... The Yugoslav partisans were the main anti-fascist resistance movement which fought against the occupation of Yugoslavia by Axis forces during World War II. The uniting force of the anti-fascist partisans on the territory was Peoples Liberation Army and Partisan detachments of Yugoslavia (NOV i POJ; Narodnooslobodilačka vojska... Josip Broz Tito  listen (May 7, 1892 – May 4, 1980) was the ruler of Yugoslavia between the end of World War II and his death in 1980. ...

Following a brief period of social stigmatization after 1945, Krleža was «condoned» for his «ideological sins» and rehabilitated by Marshal Tito. In 1951 he became the head of what is now Croatian Institute for lexicography (http://www.lzmk.hr) (the position he was to hold until his death), and held the post of the president of Yugoslav writers' union between 1958 and 1961. Krleža died in Zagreb in 1981. 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Josip Broz Tito (May 7, 1892 - May 4, 1980) was the ruler of Yugoslavia between the end of World War II and his death in 1980. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1961 (As MAD Magazine pointed out on its first cover for the year) was the first upside-down year—i. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Krleža's work

However interesting Krleža's political and social stance toward various ideological and political events may be, his enduring legacy is as one of the finest European modernist authors — the fact frequently overlooked, not least due to his turbulent political career and general influence on cultural life in Yugoslavia. Miroslav Krleža's collected works number more than 50 volumes and cover all parts of imaginative literature: poetry, drama, short story, novels, essays, diaries, polemics and autobiographical prose. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a Balkan state that existed from 1945 to 1992. ...

He is the heir of two parallel traditions: a specifically Croatian one, where he conceived of his role in the Croatian literature as the shaper of national consciousness, or, in terms of James Joyce's «Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man»: «to forge in the smithy of his soul the uncreated conscience of his race»; the other one is broad European avant-garde movement. Krleža's formative influences include Scandinavian drama, French symbolism and Austrian and German expressionism and modernism, with key authors like Ibsen, Strindberg, Nietzsche, Karl Kraus, Rilke and Proust. Renaissance Marko Marulić Marin Držić Hanibal Lucić Dinko Zlatarić Petar Zoranić Baroque Ivan Gundulić Ivan Bunić Vučić Classicism and Sentimentalism Andrija Kačić Miošić Matija Antun Reljković Romanticism Ivan Mažuranić Stanko Vraz August Šenoa Realism Ante Kovačić Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević Ivana Brlić Mažuranić Modernism Antun Gustav Matoš Janko Polić Kamov The... James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, and is widely considered one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. ... A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ... Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye, 1929-30: The modern style is noted for its rigorous geometrical forms, and became adopted internationally, though not without continuing controversy Modernism in the cultural historical sense is generally defined as the new artistic and literary styles that emerged in the decades before 1914 as... Henrik Johan Ibsen (March 20, 1828–May 23, 1906) was an extremely influential Norwegian playwright who was largely responsible for the rise of the modern realistic drama. ... August Strindberg, photographic selfportrait Johan August Strindberg  listen (Stockholm, January 22, 1849 - Stockholm, May 14, 1912) was a writer, playwright and painter of Sweden. ... Friedrich Nietzsche, 1882 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) was a highly influential German philosopher, philologist, and psychologist. ... Karl Kraus (April 28, 1874 - June 12, 1936) was an eminent Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright, and poet. ... Rainer Maria Rilke (born 4 December 1875 in Prague; died 29 December 1926 in Val-Mont (Switzerland)) was an important poet in the German language. ... Valentin-Louis-Georges-Eugène-Marcel Proust (July 10, 1871–November 18, 1922) was a French intellectual, novelist, essayist and critic, best known as the author of In Search of Lost Time (in French À la recherche du temps perdu, also translated previously as Remembrance of Things Past), a monumental work...

Krleža's opus can be divided in following categories:

Poetry

Although Krleža's lyric poetry is held in high regard, by common critical consensus his greatest poetic work is Balade Perice Kerempuha (Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh), a visionary compendium of Golgotha Croatica, spanning more than five centuries and centred around the figure of plebean «prophet» Petrica Kerempuh, a sort of Croatian Til Eulenspiegel. This sombre and highly complex multilayered poem evoking reminiscences on Bruegel and Bosch paintings, written in a unique hybrid language based on Croatian kajkavian dialect interspersed with Latin, German, Hungarian and archaic Croatian highly stylised idiom, irradiates universal dark verities on human condition epitomized in Croatian historical experience. Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Brueghel or Bruegel was the name of several Flemish painters from the same family line: Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. ... Hieronymus Bosch; alleged portrait (around 1560) Hieronymus Bosch, also Jeroen Bosch, (c. ... Kajkavian (kajkavski) dialect is one of the three dialects of Croatian language. ...

Novels

Krleža's novelistic opus consists of four novels: Povratak Filipa Latinovicza (The Return of Filip Latinovicz), Na rubu pameti(On the Edge of Reason), Banket u Blitvi (The Banquet in Blitva) and Zastave (The Banners). All four novels exemplify characteristics of Krleža's narrative prose: highly eloquent, almost «baroque» style; expressionist innovations and techniques integrated in a mature authorial voice; numerous essayist passages that define these works as novels of ideas; a blend of existentialist vision and sharp consciousness of politics as the determining factor of human lives. A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday speech. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement that views the individual, the self, the individuals experience, and the uniqueness therein as the basis for understanding the nature of human existence. ...

The first one is a novel about artist, written in the Proustian mood, but forecasting the existentialist shadow; On the Edge of Reason and The Banquet in Blitva are essentially political-satirical novels of ideas (the latter located in an imaginary Baltic country and called «political poem»), saturated with atmosphere of all-pervading totalitarianism, while The Banners has been rightly dubbed - Croatian War and Peace. It is a multivoluminous panoramic view of Croatian (and Central European) society before, during and after World War I, revolving around prototypical theme of «fathers and sons» conflict. This article is about the optical phenomenon; for other meanings, see Shadow (disambiguation). ... Baltic can refer to: The Baltic Sea Council of the Baltic Sea States - an intergovernmental organization Baltic sea countries - countries with access to the Baltic Sea The term Baltic countries is sometimes used more or less synonymously for Northern Europe (Russia not included) The Baltic region (Balticum) Baltic States - the... A totalitarian régime or state attempts to control nearly every aspect of personal, economic, and political life. ... See also War and Peace (album) War and Peace (Война и мир [Voyna i mir], in original orthography Война и миръ) is an epic novel of Russian history and society by Leo Tolstoy, first published from 1865 to 1869, which tells the story of Russia during the Napoleonic Era. ...

All Krleža's novels except the last one, Zastave (The Banners), have been translated into English language. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Essays

Miroslav Krleza's essays contain both his best and his worst writing. Undubitably the literarary form he had found the most genial to his artistic temperament, Krleza has poured into essays everything that provoked his intelligence and sensibility-this genre covers more than 20 books of his collected works. Encyclopedic knowledge and polemical passion inform the meditations on various aspects and personalities of culture (Proust, Baudelaire, Erasmus, Paracelsus), political anatomies of history both contemporary and medieval (Deset krvavih godina (Ten bloody years)), vignettes on art and music (Chopin, Grosz)-all is covered in this veritable anatomy of European history and culture. Essay, a short work that treats of a topic from an authors personal point of view, often taking into account subjective experiences and personal reflections upon them. ... The name Proust can refer to: Antonin Proust (1832-1905), French journalist and politician Joseph Proust (1754-1826), French chemist Marcel Proust (1871-1922), French author This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (April 9, 1821–August 31, 1867) was one of the most influential French poets. ... Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ... Paracelsus Paracelsus (November 11 or December 17, 1493 - September 24, 1541) was a famous alchemist, physician, astrologer, and general occultist. ... This article is about Frédéric Chopin, the composer. ... George Grosz (July 26, 1893 - July 6, 1959) was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada group. ...

Unfortunately, Krleza has sometimes (especially during Communist Yugoslavia period) allowed himself to sink into apologetic pro-Communist rhetoric. But, these period pieces consitute only a minor part of his essayist oeuvre. Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all south Slavic languages) is a term used for three separate but successive political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. ...

Short stories and Novellas

The most notable collection of Krleza's short stories is anti-war book Hrvatski bog Mars (Croatian god Mars), on the fates of Croatian soldiers sent to the slaughterhouse of World War 1 battlefields. However, modern readers will probably find more attractive other novellas and short stories, depicting turbulent relationships and blase boredom gnawing at upper classes of Croatian society before and after World War 1. This article is in need of attention. ... A novella is a short, narrative, prose fiction work. ...

Dramas

Considering the fact that Krleza's main artistic interest centred around drama, it is ironic that his dramatic opus, although a valuable one, cannot stand the comparison with his other achievements, especially in essay, novel and poetry genres. He began with experimental expressionist plays like Adam i Eva and Michelangelo Buonarrotti, celebrating vitalist passions of heroic figures, but eventually opted for a more conventional naturalist drama patterned along examples of mature works of Ibsen and Strindberg. The best known is his cycle on the Glembajs, Gospoda Glembajevi, on the decay of high bourgeois family sunken in the morass of adultery, corruption, theft and murder. Of course have to be mentioned even Golgota, a drama with a political core, but so human and so touching. As in some of his poetries or short stories, Krleza deals again with biblical symbols and figures, but in a very earthly way. The end of the drama is a real surprise, totally unexpected, a tremendous finale, very likely to the "Father" of Strindberg. Drama is a term generally used to refer to a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. ... Henrik Johan Ibsen (March 20, 1828–May 23, 1906) was an extremely influential Norwegian playwright who was largely responsible for the rise of the modern realistic drama. ... August Strindberg, photographic selfportrait Johan August Strindberg (Stockholm, January 22, 1849 - Stockholm, May 14, 1912) was a writer and playwright of Sweden. ... August Strindberg, photographic selfportrait Johan August Strindberg (Stockholm, January 22, 1849 - Stockholm, May 14, 1912) was a writer and playwright of Sweden. ...

Diaries and Memoirs

Krleza's memoirs and diaries (especially «Davni dani» (Olden days) and «Djetinjstvo u Agramu» (Childhood in Zagreb)) are fascinating documents of growing and expanding self-awareness grappling with the world outside and mutable inner self. Other masterpieces, like Dnevnici (Diaries) and posthumously published Zapisi iz Tržiča (Notes from Tržič) chronicle multifarious impressions (aesthetic, political, literary, social, personal, philosophical) that an inquisitive consciousness has recorded during an era that lasted more than half a century. A diary is a book for writing discrete entries arranged by date. ... A memoir, as a literary genre, forms a sub-class of autobiography. ... Zagreb (pronounced ZAH-greb) is the capital city of Croatia. ... A century is one hundred of something, usually one hundred consecutive years, or 100 runs in cricket, or a bicycle ride of 100 miles in a day. ...

Selected works

· Legenda, 1914

· Maskerata, 1914

· Zarathustra i mladic, 1914

· Pan, 1917

· Tri simfonije, 1917

· Pjesme, 1918

· Lirika, 1918

· Saloma, 1918

· Pjesme, 1918-19 (3 vols.)

· Michelangelo Buonnarroti, 1919

· Eppur si muove, 1919

· Tri kavalira gospodjice Melanije, 1920

· Hrvatska rapsodija, 1921 (includes Smrt Franje Kadavera and Veliki meštar sviju hulja)

· Magyar kiralyi honvéd novela-Kraljevsko-ugarska domobranska novela, 1921

· Golgota, 1922

· Hrvatski bog Mars, 1922

· Galicija, 1922

· Adam i Eva, 1922

· Novele, 1923

· Vucjak, 1923

· Vrazji otok, 1923

· Izlet u Rusiju, 1926

· Gospoda Glembajevi, 1928

· Leda, 1930

· U agoniji, 1931

· Knjiga pjesama, 1931

· Moj obracun s njima, 1932

· Knjiga Lirike, 1932

· Eseji, 1932

· Glembajevi, 1932

· Povratak Filipa Latinovicza, 1932 - The Return of Philip Latinowicz (trans. by Zora Depolo)

· Balade Petrice Kerempuha, 1936

· Deset krvavih godina, 1937

· Na rubu pameti, 1938 - On the Edge of Reason (trans. by Zora Depolo and Jeremy Catto)

· Banket u Blitvi, 1939 –The Banquet in Blitva (transl. by Jasna Levinger and E.D.Goy)

· Dijalekticki antibarbarus, 1939

· Djetinjstvo u Agramu godine 1902-1903, 1952

· Davni dani, 1956

· Aretej, 1959

· Eseji, 1961-67 (6 vols.)

· Zastave, 1967 (6 vols.)

· Izabrana dela, 1969

· 99 varijacija, 1972

· Djetinjstvo i drugi spisi, 1972

· The Cricket beneath the Waterfall, and Other Stories

· Put u raj, 1973

· Miroslav Krleza: Jubilarno izdanje, 1973

· Dnevnik, 1977 (5 vols.)

External links

• Miroslav Krleza (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/krleza.htm)
• Miroslav Krleza in South Slavic Literature Library (http://www.borut.com/library/a_krlezm.htm)