Smrek, Jan

Smrek, Ján 

(pen name of Jan Čietek). Born Dec. 16, 1898, in Zemianské Lieskové. Slovak poet.

Smrek fought in World War I (1914-18). From 1921 to 1924 he studied at the Higher Theological School in Bratislava. In 1930 he settled in Prague, where he edited Slovak books and published the Slovak journal Elán. At the beginning of his career he was influenced by symbolism (the collection Sentenced to Eternal Thirst, 1922). Smrek’s most important works are his collections of the 1920’s and 1930’s, including Galloping Days (1925), Divine Knots (1929), and Only Eyes (1933). His antifascist views were reflected in the collections The Feast (1944) and The Well (1945). Smrek has also written philosophical reflections in verse (the collections Image of the World, 1958, and Strings, 1962) and translated works from Hungarian, French, Russian, and other languages.

Smrek has been awarded the State Prize of Czechoslovakia (1954).

WORKS

In Russian translation:
[Poems.] In Slovatskaia poeziia XIX-XX vv. Moscow, 1964.

REFERENCES

Sherlaimova, S. A. “Ian Smrek.” In Istoriia slovatskoi literatury. Moscow, 1970.
Kováč, B. Poézia Jána Smreka. Bratislava, 1962.

S. A. SHERLAIMOVA