Miroslav Krleža

Miroslav Krleža ( pronounced [mǐrɔ̝slav̞ kř̩le̞ʒa]; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (The Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh, 1936), theater (Messrs. Glembay, 1929), short stories (The Croatian God Mars, 1922), novels (The Return of Philip Latinowicz, 1932; On the Edge of Reason, 1938), and an intimate diary. His works often include themes of bourgeois hypocrisy and conformism in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Krleža wrote numerous essays on problems of art, history, politics, literature, philosophy, and military strategy, and was known as one of the great polemicists of the century. His style combines visionary poetic language and sarcasm.

Krleža dominated the cultural life of Croatia and Yugoslavia for half a century. A "Communist of his own making", he was criticized in Communist circles in the 1930s for his refusal to submit to the tenets of socialist realism. After the Second World War, he held various cultural posts in Socialist Yugoslavia, and was most notably the director of the Yugoslav Lexicographical Institute and a constant advisor on cultural affairs to President Tito. After the break with Stalin, his speech at the 1952 Congress of Yugoslav Writers signaled a new era of comparative freedom in Yugoslav literature.