Fran Levstik was a Slovene writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, political activist, playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and critic

Critic

A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...

. he was one of the most prominent exponents of the Young Slovene political movement.

Life and work

He was born in Dolnje Retje

Dolnje Retje

Dolnje Retje is a small village to the southeast of Velike Lašče in central Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Central Slovenia statistical region....

 (now part of the municipality of Velike Lašče

Velike Lašce

Velike Lašče is a town and municipality in Slovenia. It is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Central Slovenia statistical region...

) in Lower Carniola

Lower Carniola

Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...

 (then part of the Austrian Empire

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

, today in Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

) in a peasant Slovene family.

Levstik was the first notable writer of Slovene epic prose. Among his most known works are the short tale Martin Krpan

Martin Krpan

Martin Krpan is a fictional character created on the basis of the Inner Carniolan oral tradition by the 19th-century Slovene writer Fran Levstik in the short story Martin Krpan from Vrh...

, which became a classic work of Slovene literature, and the itinerary Popotovanje iz Litije do Čateža, whose main objective is actually that of a literary manifesto. In the critical essay Napake slovenskega pisanja, he exposed his views on the development of the Slovene literary language.

Levstik was one of the main exponents of the Young Slovenes

Young Slovenes

Young Slovenes were a Slovene national liberal political movement in the 1860s and 1870s, inspired and named after the Young Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia. They were opposed to the national conservative Old Slovenes. They entered in a crisis in the 1880s, and disappeared from political life by the...

, a progressive

Progressivism

Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...

 and radical

Political radicalism

The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...

 political group akin to the Young Czechs in the Czech Lands

Czech lands

Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...

 that challenged the then prevailing influence of conservatives, led by Janez Bleiweis

Janez Bleiweis

Janez Bleiweis was a Slovene conservative politician, journalist and public figure. He was the leader of the so-called Old Slovene political movement. Already during his lifetime, he was called father of the nation....

, within the Slovenian National Movement. In his late years, he grew closer to Pan-Slavist ideals.

Levstik had a great influence on future generations of Slovene authors of national liberal

National Progressive Party (Slovenia)

The National Progressive Party was a political party in the Carniola region of Austria-Hungary. It was established in 1894 by Ivan Tavčar as the National Party of Carniola and renamed in 1905 to The National Progressive Party...

 views, especially Josip Jurčič

Josip Jurcic

Josip Jurčič was a Slovene writer and journalist. He was born in Muljava, Austrian Empire and died in Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary...

, Josip Stritar

Josip Stritar

Josip Stritar was a Slovene writer, poet, playwright, publisher and translator.Stritar spent his early childhood in his home village in rural Lower Carniola and was sent to school in Ljubljana...

, Janko Kersnik

Janko Kersnik

Janko Kersnik was a Slovene writer and politician. Together with Josip Jurčič, he is considered the most important representative of Literary realism in the Slovene language.- Biography :...

, Anton Aškerc

Anton Aškerc

Anton Aškerc was a Slovene poet and Roman Catholic priest, best known for his epic poems.Aškerc was born into a peasant family near the town of Rimske Toplice in the Duchy of Styria, then part of the Austrian Empire . His exact birthplace is unknown because his family was on the move at the time...

, Janez Trdina

Janez Trdina

Janez Trdina was a Slovene writer and historian. The renowned author Ivan Cankar described him as the best Slovene stylist of his period. He was an ardent describer of the Gorjanci Hills and of the Lower Carniolan region in general...

 and Ivan Tavčar

Ivan Tavcar

Ivan Tavčar was a Slovene and Yugoslav writer, lawyer, and politician.- Biography :Tavčar was born into a poor peasant family of Janez and Neža née Perko in the Carniolan village of Poljane near Škofja Loka in what was then the Austrian Empire and is now in Slovenia. It has never been entirely...

.

He died in Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

 and is buried in the Navje

Navje

Navje, formerly known as St. Christopher's Cemetery is a memorial park in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It is located in the Bežigrad district, just behind the Ljubljana railway station....

 cemetery.

Prose

• Martin Krpan z Vrha / Popotovanje iz Litije do Čateža. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1958.
• Deseti brat
  Deseti brat
  Deseti brat is a novel by Slovenian author Josip Jurčič. It was first published in 1866....
  
  . Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1863
• Zveženj; Iz minule srečne mladosti; Spomini o verah in mislih prostega naroda; Pokljuk; Sveti doktor Bežanec v Tožbanji vasi. Izbrano delo. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1870.
• Kdo je napravil Vidku srajčico. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1955.

Poetry

• Pesmi (1854) :

Uvod,
Boginji petja,
Edina last,
Speča deklica,
Popotnik,
Na vseh svetnikov dan,
Koledniki,
Povsod ni sreče,
Pomladni sprehod,
Razni glasovi,
Na grobu Prešerna.

• Tonine pesmi (1859):

Prvi poljub,
Srečni mrak,
Prazna prisega,
Ljubezen,
Vihra,
Dve otvi,
V gozdu,
Tiha žalost,
Mrtva ljubezen,

• Franjine pesmi (1870):

Senčnica,
Uvela kita cvetja,
Poročilo,
Nevesta,
Zakaj?,
Kaj sem Ti storil?,
Reki,
Slovo,
Ohraba.

• Pripovedne pesmi:

Ubežni kralj
Knezov sin,
Roža,
Na Gorenjskem,
Dekle in ptica.

• Refleksije:

Domotožnost,
Opomon do veselja,
Pomlad,
Omnia evanescunt,
Umetnik,
Knjižna modrost,
Obup,
Boj,
Naša nesreča.

• Satire
  Satire
  Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
  
  :

Župnikove sanje,
Svetemu Eliji,
Slovenska literatura,
V spomin rajnega Napreja,
Ljudski glas,
Molčimo!,
Sovražnikom,
Roman.

• Pesmi za mladino - otroške pesmi:

Naša vas,
Živa cvetlica,
Kadar otrok lovi luno in zvezde,
Rimska cesta,
Preprostega otroka molitev,
Kako je v Korotani,
Jež in lisica,
Mačka, miš in miška.

Dramatics

• Juntez (1855) dlib
• Tugomer (1876)