Ján Smrek, born in 1898 in Zemianske Lieskové, studied at the Teachers` Institute in Modra from 1919 to 1920. Afterwards, he finished six semesters at the Evangelical Theological Faculty. In 1924, he became an editor at the daily 'Slovenský denník' in Bratislava. From 1925 to 1929, he was an editor of another daily newpspapar, 'Národné noviny' in Martin. From 1930 to 1939, he had lived in Prague where he published the arts and literature journal Elán. After the division of the pre-war Czechoslovak Republic, he returned to Bratislava where Elán became the journal of the Slovak Writers` Union. In 1944, Elán was officially stopped for its anti-Fascist opinions. It was revived in 1946. After the war, Smrek founded the book series Elán which he had lead until 1950. In the following years, he was entirely devoted to his poetry, to translating and to memoir-writing. Smrek died in 1982 in Bratislava.
