FAMOUS CROATS, GUSTAV KRKLEC

GUSTAV KRKLEC (1899–1977), a prominent Croatian poet of the first half of the 20th century, prose writer and translator, was born in Udbinja near Karlovac on 23 June 1899. He spent his childhood in Hrvatsko zagorje, completed his general education secondary school in 1918 in Sušak, attended the Higher Agricultural School in Vienna, studied philosophy and psychology in Zagreb in 1921, and studied directing in Prague, where he assisted K. Čapek. He lived in Belgrade, Zemun and Slankamen until 1945, and then in Zagreb. He died on 30 October 1977. He published humorous stories in the journal Koprive (1915). He wrote poems under the influence of German Expressionism and collaborated with the journal Juriš (Lirika, 1919; Srebrna cesta, 1921). In his mature phase, he returned to a traditional style (Ljubav ptica, 1926; Izlet u nebo, 1928; San pod brezom, 1941; Darovi za bezimenu, 1942). Krklec's poetry, created between modernist and traditional frameworks, is a characteristic example of Croatian Expressionism, but also a unique and distinctive revival of traditional lyrical forms. His simple, confessional poetic language, woven with cheerfulness and directness, in nostalgic experiences of childhood and nature, free from arcadian sentiment and inspired by real images and social themes, reveals the poet's true rootedness and personal connection with the themed local space. With stylistically and metrically refined, sophisticated and melodic verses, sometimes even artificial, and with pantheistic and joyful moods, as well as elegiac echoes of the past, he occupies a prominent place in Croatian literature. In his work for children, his witty and original Telegrafske basne (1952), Zvonce o repu (1954) and Majmun i naočale (1967), featuring characters from the animal world, are examples of the highest level of poetic epigrammatic writing. He also wrote literary and journalistic notes on cultural and artistic life, polemics and literary criticism, and continued Matoš's tradition of travel writing and feuilleton prose (Lica i krajolici, 1954; Noćno iverje, 1960). He translated from Russian, Slovak, German, Czech and Hungarian. He was the president of Matica hrvatska from 1950 to 1954, the president of the Croatian Writers' Association (DKH) in 1964, 1974 and 1976, and the president of the Writers' Union of Yugoslavia in 1975. He received the “Vladimir Nazor” Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1968. He also signed as Martin Lipnjak. dr. sc. Nevenka Videk