Janez Jalen was a Slovene

Slovenians

The Slovenes, Slovene people, Slovenians, or Slovenian people are a South Slavic people primarily associated with Slovenia and the Slovene language.-Population:Most Slovenes today live within the borders of the independent Slovenia...

 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....

 and priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

.

Biography

Janez Jalen was born into a rural family. His father awakened in him a great interest in nature early on in his life. After finishing secondary school in Kranj

Kranj

' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...

 he studied theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 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...

. His first pastoral appointment was to Srednja vas near Bohinj

Bohinj

Bohinj is a municipality in the Upper Carniola region of northwestern Slovenia, covering the 20 km long and 5 km wide Bohinj basin of the Sava Bohinjka river within the Julian Alps, characterized by the periglacial Lake Bohinj...

. The beauty of the surrounding area, which he came to love and admire, was what encouraged him to begin writing. During the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he was mobilised into the Austrian Army and served as a curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 in the Lebring Army Camp near Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

. After the war he served as a priest in a number of places around Slovenia: Črnomelj

Crnomelj

Črnomelj is a town and municipality in southeastern Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the Lahinja and Dobličica rivers. The municipality is at the heart of the area of White Carniola, the southeastern part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola...

, Stara Loka

Stara Loka

Stara Loka is a settlement that is part of the town of Škofja Loka in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.It is one of the oldest Slovene settlements first mentioned in documents concerning the lands Emperor Otto II granted to Bishop Abraham of Freising in the Duchy of Bavaria, dating to 973 AD...

, Trnovo

Trnovo

Trnovo may refer to:*In Bosnia and Herzegovina:**Trnovo, Republika Srpska, a town and municipality**Trnovo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the rural part of the same pre-war municipality, presently in the Sarajevo Canton*In Bulgaria:...

, Notranje Gorice

Notranje Gorice

Notranje Gorice is a settlement in the Brezovica municipality in central Slovenia. It lies in the marshlands to the south of the capital Ljubljana...

 and 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...

 where he took early retirement in 1933. After the Second World War he re-entered service and was priest in Grahovo

Grahovo

Grahovo is a tribe in western Montenegro. It contains the village of Grahovac, which was the sight of the Battle of Grahovac.-History:In the early 17th century, during the Sanjak of Scutari, Grahovo was commanded by Mile Perin....

 and finally Ljubno where he died. He is buried in Rodine.

Works

In his early period Jalen dedicated most of his time to writing plays depicting rural life at the time of the First World War. Among these are Home (Dom, 1923), The Common (Srenja, 1924) and Brothers (Bratje, 1931). Later he began writing prose, in which he also deals with rural life, albeit in a slightly idyllic way. His first novel, Shepherd Marko (Ovčar Marko), was originally published in installments in the magazine Mladika in 1928, the book only being published a year later. In 1958, it was re-published as the first part of Vozarji, an intended quartet about rural life. Jalen died before publishing any further volumes. His most well known work is a tale of a prehistoric people living on the marshes south of Ljubljana, titled Beavers (Bobri) which was published in thee parts (Sam, Rod, Vrh; 1942 - 43). At his death a number of works remained unfinished and unpublished.

Other works:

• Bride (Nevesta, play, 1936)
• Graves (Grobovi, play, 1936)
• The Wooden Stove (Lesena peč, play, 1937)
• Cilka Cvetko (Cilka Cvetko, novel, 1939)
• Cliffs (Previsi, collection of tales and short stories, 1940)
• The Bell-Less Herd (Trop brez zvoncev, novel, 1941)
• Fence (Ograd, novel, 1961)
• Crossroads (Razpotja, novel, not published until 2003)