Jozef Cíger-Hronský (original name Jozef Cíger; born 23 February 1896 in
Zvolen, present-day
Slovakia, died 13 July 1960 in
Luján,
Argentina) was a Slovak writer, teacher, publicist, later secretary and manager of the
Matica slovenská.
He was born in 1896 into a central Slovak family of
carpenters in Zólyom. He attended schools in Zólyom (1902–07),
Korpona (1907–10) and finished his education in a Hungarian teacher school in
Léva (1910–14). After that, he was a teacher at various places, with the interruption of 1917–18, when he was sent to the
Italian Front in the
World War I. His first prose came out in the 1920s (novellas and short prose). Aside of being a teacher, he was an editor of the children's magazine called Slniečko (from 1928 until 1945). In 1933 he became a secretary of the Matica slovenská and later in 1940 a manager, where he stayed until 1945. However, he fell under the influence of the
Slovak People's Party (ľudáci). From the fear of persecution after defeat of the
First Slovak Republic, he emigrated to
Austria,
Italy and finally settled in Argentina, where he worked as a designer in a textile factory. There, he established the Matica slovenská Abroad (Zahraničná Matica slovenská) and was a chairman of the Slovak National Council abroad and an honorary chairman of the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists Abroad. He died in 1960 in Luján, Argentina. After the
Velvet Revolution of 1989 his remains were repatriated to
Czechoslovakia and later reburied at the
National Cemetery in Martin in 1993.
Works
Hronský was writing as a
realistic author, but under
expressionist influence. (if possible, literal English translations are given)
Prose
1923 - U nás (short story, "At us/At our home")
1925 - Domov (collection of short stories, "Home")
1927 - Žltý dom v Klokočove (novel, "A Yellow House in Klokočov")
1929 - Medové srdce (collection of short stories, "A Honey Heart")
1930 - Proroctvo doktora Stankovského (novel, "A Prophecy of Doctor Stankovský")
1932 - Chlieb (novel, "Bread")
1932 - Podpolianske rozprávky (collection of short prose, "Fairy tales from under the
Poľana Mountains", also translated into German)
1933 - Jozef Mak (novel, also translated into English)
1933 - Tomčíkovci (collection of short prose)
1934 - Sedem sŕdc (collection of novellas, "Seven hearts")
1938 - Jarný vietor a iné rozprávky ("The spring wind and other fairy tales")
1939 - Na krížných cestách (novel)
1940 - Cesta slovenskou Amerikou (travel writing, "A journey through the Slovak America")
1940 - Pisár Gráč (novel, "Gráč the Scrivener")
1944 - Na Bukvovom dvore (novel, "At the Bukva's courtyard", also translated into Polish)
1944 - Šmáková mucha (collection of novellas)
1947 - Tri listy
1947 - Predávač talizmanov Liberius Gaius od Porta Colina (a religious novella, "A Talisman merchant Liberius Gaius by/from Port Colin")
1948 - Andreas Búr Majster (novel, "Andreas Búr the Master")