Slovenske ustvarjalke - Josipina Urbančič Turnograjska

Slovene Women in the Arts

Josipina Turnograjska (1833–1854), writer, poet and composer

Alongside innovation, creativity is an important driver of economic and social development. For this reason, Slovenia’s Intellectual Property Office has decided to draw attention to five notable women who were active in the fields of literature, theatre, journalism, translation and education in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

At a time when the world of the arts was far less welcoming to women than it was to their male peers, they had to struggle even harder, more courageously and more unbendingly to win the recognition that was due to them. The works of these women, who lived and worked both in Slovenia and abroad, have left an important mark in Slovene history.

Josipina Urbančič, who wrote under the pseudonym Josipina Turnograjska, was born at Turn Castle near Preddvor. Considered the first female Slovene poet and composer, she was also a writer of prose and a pianist, she spoke several languages and was extremely highly educated. She wrote in Slovene, which was a rarity at the time. Her works include 38 short stories, most of which drew on Slavonic history for their subject-matter. She published her first story in the newspaper Slovenska bčela in 1851. Her stories also appeared in foreign newspapers. Her works later served as a model for many Slovene writers. As a composer, she wrote piano music and settings of Slovene texts for voice and piano. She had a wide knowledge of composition and was held in high regard even during her lifetime. She cultivated a great love for her native tongue, Slovene culture, her homeland and her fellow human beings. A nationally conscious Slovene herself, she was an active part of the movement to awaken Slovene national consciousness.

Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Slovenia