Aškerc, Anton

Born Jan. 9, 1856, in the village of Globoko; died June 10, 1912, in Ljubljana. Slovene poet. Born into a peasant family.

Aškerc was a parish priest, but he renounced the priesthood in 1898. His works were first published in 1880. Aškerc traveled in the Slavic countries, including Russia, and published an anthology of Russian poetry. He wrote ballads on rural life, poems, and satires; he introduced the image of the worker into poetry. The cycle of ballads Old Truth (1888) describes Slovene peasant uprisings in the Middle Ages. In his satires he attacked clericalism and arbitrary monarchical rule and defended Slavic unity. The poetry of Aškerc is characterized by humanism and a masterful use of imagery. In the early 20th century his poems dealt mainly with the history of the struggle for Slovenia’s freedom.