Janez Trdina was a Slovene writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

. The renowned author Ivan Cankar

Ivan Cankar

Ivan Cankar was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slovene literature...

 described him as the best Slovene stylist of his period. He was an ardent describer of the Gorjanci Hills

Žumberak/Gorjanci

Žumberak or Gorjanci is a range of mountains or hills between Croatia and Slovenia. The highest peak is Sveta Gera on the border between Croatia and Slovenia, being tall....

 and of the Lower Carniola

Lower Carniola

Lower Carniola was a kreis of the historical Habsburg crown land of Carniola from 1849 till 1919 and is nowadays a traditional region of Slovenia. Its center is Novo Mesto, while other urban centers include Kočevje, Grosuplje, Krško, Trebnje, Mirna, Črnomelj, Semič, and Metlika.-See also:* Upper...

n region in general. Trdinov vrh

Trdinov vrh

With its height of , Sveta Gera or Trdinov vrh along the border between Slovenia and Croatia is the highest peak of the Žumberak/Gorjanci mountains....

 , the highest peak in the Gorjanci range on the border between Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

 and Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, has been named after him since 1923.

Biography

Trdina was born in Mengeš

Mengeš

Mengeš is a settlement and municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It is located approximately fifteen kilometers from the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. Mengeš became a municipality in 1995....

 in Upper Carniola

Upper Carniola

Upper Carniola is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jesenice, Tržič, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, and Domžale.- Historical background :...

, then part of the Austrian Empire

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

. He attended school in Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

 and studied history, geography and Slavic philology in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. He worked as a teacher in Croatia, namely in Varaždin

Varaždin

Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at...

 and in Rijeka

Rijeka

Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

. In 1867, he was retired on charges of misleading students with his radical liberal political views. He moved to Bršljin near Novo Mesto

Novo Mesto

Novo Mesto is a city and municipality in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered the economic and cultural centre of the historic Lower Carniola region.-Geography:...

 and later to the town itself.

Work

Trdina travelled widely across Lower Carniola and White Carniola

White Carniola

White Carniola is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia and is the most southern part of the historical and traditional region of Lower Carniola. Its major towns are Metlika, Črnomelj, and Semič, and the principal river is the Kolpa, which also forms part of the...

, compiling notes on the life and customs of local people. His notebooks were filled with folk sayings, folk tales, anecdotes, and customs. Trdina edited them in an emphasized realistic, even naturalistic manner, rejecting the Romantic vision of an idyllic countryside. In 1882, he published these notes in a volume titled Tales and Stories of the Gorjanci Hills (Bajke in povesti o Gorjancih).