Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) was a Croatian writer and encyclopedist, widely recognized as one of the most significant figures of Yugoslav and Croatian literature of the 20th century. He is the author of lyrics, plays, novels and essays, and his extensive creativity (almost 200 author’s books) has become the foundation of modern Croatian cultural heritage. Krleža was known for his engaged style and social criticism; During his lifetime, he started important magazines (eg. Flame, Literary Republic, Today), and after his death, permanent monuments remain his word – the Lexicographic Institute in Zagreb today bears his name.
Early life and education
Miroslav Krleža was born on July 7, 1893 in Zagreb in a civil family of modest status. He attended high school in Zagreb (he graduated from the classical high school in 1909) and from 1908 he went to the cadet military school in Pécs, and then in 1911 to Budapest for Ludovicsum. He left the academy in Budapest already in 1913 in an effort to arrive in Serbia via Paris and Thessaloniki and become a volunteer in the Serbian army – an attempt that failed. He soon returns to Zagreb, where he begins work in newspaper newsrooms and publishes his first literary articles.
During the First World War, Krleža was mobilized as a home guard in the Austro-Hungarian army in 1915 and sent to the Eastern Front (Galicia). He spent the war mainly in military hospitals due to illness, and in the meantime he published the first literary texts. By the end of the war, he returned to Zagreb (1917) and then began to build a more serious literary career.
interwar period
In the period after the foundation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918), Krleža was ideologically associated with leftist and revolutionary circles. He was fascinated by Lenin and the Soviet Revolution and engaged in the communist movement of the new state. By the end of the 1920s, he became the dominant figure of literary life in the New Kingdom; His strongest works from that phase (poetry, plays, essays, memory prose) were published in the 1930s, at the time of the growth of totalitarian regimes.
In the 1930s, Krleža edited and published a number of important magazines. Back in 1919, he launched an avant-garde literary magazine with his friend Augusto Cesarec Flame – trying to undermine established cultural myths and criticize social injustices. Flame was soon banned, but Krleža continues to operate through other newspapers (like Literary republics and magazine Today) ). This activity further strengthened his reputation as a leading intellectual. In the interwar period, he belonged to the Communist Party (joined in 1918), but due to disagreements with party methods, he was eliminated from membership in 1939 (which ended his open connection with the Party). After that, he does not even agree to cooperate with the extremist regime, nor to activism in the partisans – he remains in Croatia until the end of the war.
World War II
During the Second World War, Krleža remained in Zagreb, then under Ustasha rule (NDH). Although he was previously a leftist, he has no threats or persecution from the regime. The Ustaše government, trying to achieve national reconciliation, offers it several times important social functions (e.g. the intendant of the HNK or a professor at the university) – but he rejects them all. He also rejects the possibility of going to the partisans, considering that it doesn’t matter to him who “Dido” (Kvaternik) or “Đido” (Đilas) will kill him. Krleža spends the war in relative isolation – with the support of friends and doctors – without actively collaborating with any side. This vague status saves him from reprisals, but prevents him from making significant public engagement until the end of the war.
Socialist Yugoslavia
Miroslav Krleža (left) in the company of the then Yugoslav president (right) at the celebration of the 100th performance of the play Phaedra 1963. Krleža then enjoyed the status of a leading literary figure closely related to the authorities. After the war, despite the initial suspicion for refusing to cooperate with the partisans, he gradually returned to the cultural life of the newly founded state. In 1947, he became the vice president of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (today’s HAZU), and in 1950 he founded the Lexicographic Institute in Zagreb and led it until his death. From 1958 to 1961, he also chaired the Association of Writers of Yugoslavia. At that time, he enjoyed a high social status – he often traveled, published and accepted state honors. For example, in 1962, he received the prestigious NIN award for the novel flags, and in 1968 he was awarded the Herder Lifetime Achievement Award.
literary work and works
Krleža was an extremely versatile writer: he wrote poetry, plays, novels, short stories and journalism, always with critical reflection on society. Some of his most famous works depict different aspects of Croatian reality, history and mythology. The greatest poetic work is considered to be a collection Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh (1946) – Poems written in the Kajkavian dialect in the spirit of Croatian folk narrative melos, which talk about great historical changes in an allegorical way.
Four novels stand out among the prose works: The return of Filip Latinović (1932), on the edge of mind (1938), Banquet in Blitva (1933) and the epic cycle flags (1961–1963). The first novel analyzes the gradual moral weakening of an artist, while the rest are placed in the imagined or satirical framework of repressive societies in the late 1930s. They are especially known flags – A multi-volume novel about families and generations before and after the Great War, in which he depicted Croatian society on a panoramic scale (it is often compared to Tolstoy’s “war and peace” due to his ambition of scope).
In the field of drama, Krleža founded a series of short, strong stories. The most famous is tragedy Messrs. Glembajevi (1929) – a cycle of dramas about the disintegration of a respectable Zagreb family that symbolizes the downfall of the old bourgeois class. dramas like King Gordogan, Ivy, Golgotha and others also explore characters caught in major social conflicts.
Finally, his short notes and stories (like a collection Croatian god Mars, 1922) bring sharp scenes and comments. In Croatian god Mars The tragic fate of young Croats on the battlefields of the First World War is described. Krleža also wrote essays, reviews and diaries full of social observations, trying to talk about solid foundations that need to be developed and reexamined in modern society.
The famous works of Krleža include:
- Poetry: Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh (1946) – a collection that became a canon of Croatian poetry, appreciated for its visionary combination of mythology and social criticism.
- novels: The return of Filip Latinović (1932), on the edge of mind (1938), Banquet in Blitva (1933) and flags (1961–1963) – works that have passed the scientific and ideological atmosphere in Europe and Croatia between the two wars, and the last one – flags – a deep reflection on the clash of generations and social systems.
- Drama: Messrs. Glembajevi (1929) – a symbolic family tragedy that exposes the hypocrisy and decadence of the rich class. In addition, the winged reflections on totalitarianism in works such as King Gordogan and Golgotha.
- Stories: Croatian god Mars (1922) – An anti-war collection of stories about young soldiers from the Balkans, with sharp criticism of the society that sends them to ruin.
Significance and legacy
Miroslav Krleža remains an icon of Croatian culture and literature due to his various works and social engagement. His works respected all important publishers, and during his lifetime he published almost 200 books. Krleža’s influence is also confirmed by the awards presented to him (eg Herder’s award) and the institutions that bear his name today. The Lexicographic Institute in Zagreb, which he founded in 1950, is today Miroslav Krleža – Institute for Croatian Language and Linguistics. In 2001, the Memorial Space of Bela and Miroslav Krleža (Villa Gvozd), a museum where objects from his life and work can be viewed, was opened in Zagreb.
Despite the changes in social circumstances, Krleža’s voice is often quoted and read today. For many writers and readers, the example of a literary intellectual who managed to articulate the complexity of Croatian society in the 20th century remained.
Conclusion
Miroslav Krleža was an outstanding writer and public intellectual whose work and ideas left an indelible mark on Croatian culture. his biography It includes turbulent historical epochs (from Austria-Hungary, through both world wars to Yugoslavia), in which he asked questions that still cause debates today. We invite all lovers of literature and history to explore Krleža’s works – from Petrica Kerempuh’s ballad to the novel flags – and to visit memorial spaces and settings dedicated to his life. They contain a whole series of records and manuscripts that further depict his passion for language and community. (For further reading, we recommend the pages of the Miroslav Krleža Lexicographic Institute and the Croatian Lexicographic Institute, as well as available editions of the collected works of Miroslav Krleža.)
