Levstik was born in 1831 in
Dolnje Retje (now part of the municipality of
Velike Lašče) in
Lower Carniola (then part of the
Austrian Empire, today in
Slovenia) in a peasant
Slovene family. Levstik was the first notable writer of Slovene epic prose. Among his most known works are the short tale
Martin Krpan From Vrh (), which became a classic work of
Slovene literature, and the
itinerary A Journey from Litija to Čatež (), the main objective of which is a
literary manifesto. In the critical essay
Napake slovenskega pisanja, he exposed his views on the development of the Slovene literary language. Levstik was one of the main exponents of the
Young Slovenes, a
progressive and
radical political group akin to the
Young Czechs in the
Czech Lands that challenged the then prevailing influence of
conservatives, led by
Janez Bleiweis, within the
Slovenian National Movement. In his late years, he grew closer to
Pan-Slavist ideals. Levstik and
his literary program had a great influence on future generations of Slovene authors of
national liberal views, especially
Josip Jurčič,
Josip Stritar,
Janko Kersnik,
Anton Aškerc,
Janez Trdina and
Ivan Tavčar. The Slovene composer
Breda Šček set Levstik’s texts to music. He died of
Bright's disease (nephritis) in
Ljubljana after a period of serious mental illness, which included delusions of a religious nature. He was buried in the former
St. Christopher's Cemetery in the
Bežigrad district of Ljubljana. The
Levstik Award for achievements in children's literature is named after him. ==References==