Župancic, Oton

(also O. Župančić). Born Jan. 23, 1878, in the village of Vinica; died June 11, 1949, in Ljubljana. Slovene poet. Member of the Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences (1938). One of the representatives of so-called Slovene modernism, whose adherents were opposed to conservatism and rigidity in literature and political life. In addition to intimate lyrical and philosophical-humanistic motifs, the national and social tragedy of the Slovene people, which was oppressed byAustria-Hungary until 1918, was expressed in Župančič’s poetry.

In 1941, Župančič began to write for the underground partisan press. His main collections of poems were The Cup of Ecstasy (1899), On the Plains (1904), Conversations With Myself (\\9Q8), The Dawn of St. Vitus’ Day (1920), and The Snow-covered Periwinkle (1945). Zupancic also wrote children’s poetry and worked as a dramatist, publicist, and translator.