The page of Johanides, Ján, English biography
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Biography
(18. 8. 1934, Dolný Kubín)Ján Johanides, is one of prominent Slovak writers of the generation that debuted in the ´60´s and continued to play a significant role in Slovak literature even after the upheavals of 1989. J. Johanides was born in the northern region of Orava. During the ´50´s he studied esthetics and history of arts in Bratislava, after 1957 he was employed as a company psychologist in Nižná (Orava). At the beginning of the ´60´s he was an official of the Union of Slovak Writers, and later worked briefly as a dramatic advisor. He lived in various Slovak towns (Dolný Kubín, Martin, Trnovec), since 1972 Johanides lives in Šaľa as a freelance writer.
Johanides´ debut was a collection of novellas depicting everyday life called Súkromie (1963). In this period he published some prosaic texts in literary journals (mostly in Mladá tvorba) as well. In 1965 his second book appeared. It was a collection of dramatic and prosaic texts entitled Podstata kameňolomu. First phase of his literary production was completed by the novel Nie (1966). He had also written several radio and TV plays, usually based on the short stories he published earlier. Together with the film director Dušan Hanák they wrote a manual for film dramaturges in 1967. At the beginning of the ´70´s his books were indexed as “libri prohibiti“ by the régime. Between 1976 and 1978 he published several short stories in various journals. In 1978 he published a novel entitled Nepriznané vrany and a year later a satiric novella Balada o vkladnej knižke (1979).
In 1983 came out the historical novel from the 16th century Marek koniar a uhorský kráľ. Two years later a story of two former concentration camp inmates Slony v Mauthausene was published (1985). Four novellas were published in one book entitled Pochovávanie brata (1987). The novella Najsmutnejšia oravská balada was published in 1988. He published several novels and novellas in the ´90´s, e.g.: Previesť cez most (1991), Zločin plachej lesbičky (1991), Holomráz (1991), Kocúr a zimný človek (1994) and Trestajúci zločin (1995). Several short stories appeared in a collection entitled Dedičný červotoč (1998) and one of his last books bears the title Dívaj sa do modrých očí Londýna (2000). His last novel Nepriestrelná žena (2002) was awarded the prestigious Dominik Tatarka Prize (2003).
Johanides published also an extensive historic essay on Rembrandt (1995), (Bratislava, Paris); other essays and interviews were published in a collection entitled Identita v kríze (1996).
