Josipina Turnograjska

Josipina Urbančič (married name Toman), who published under the pen name Josipina Turnogradska (later respelled Turnograjska, 9 July 1833 – 1 June 1854), was one of the first Slovene female writers, poets, and composers.

Biography Josipina was baptized Josepha Constantia Anna Urbantschitsch. She was born at Turn Castle in what was then the Austrian Empire, (now part of the municipality of Preddvor), from which she also derived her pseudonym Turnogradska (literally 'of Turn Castle'). When sending her first story to the editor of the literary magazine Slovenska Bčela she explained the choice of name by writing: "Slavic sons are keen to show their strength and worth. Why should Slav daughters not have the same desire? This is why I have decided to try to write something in my own mild language and I dare send into daylight one story from my collection and ask you to include it in your publication. Let my name be Josipina Turnogradska, since Turn Castle is my home." Her parents were Johann Nepomuk Urbantschitsch and Josephina Terpinz, after a combination of complications at childbirth and measles. She was only 20.

Work Josipina had extended knowledge of Slovene and European literature and greatly admired France Prešeren’s poetry (she copied his style in her writing) and German Romantic writers, as well as popular adventure novels of the time. There is an emphasis in her writings on the role of women as writers as well as in national awakening. Her work was appreciated in other areas of the Slav-speaking world (Russia and the Czech Lands), mainly because she wrote in a Slavic language. In the period following the fall of the absolutist Metternich regime, strict censorship was loosened and cultural activities with a stronger Slovene and Slavic note started to blossom. Josipina's work was marked by the ideas of Romantic Nationalism, which in the Slovene Lands was connected with Slav mutualism and Panslavism.

In her brief creative life, Josipina Turnograjska wrote around thirty stories, the first when she was only seventeen. She picked her material from the history of Slovenes and other Slavic peoples, as well as from popular legends. She gave great emphasis to poetical descriptions of nature. Five of her stories were published in the literary magazines Slovenska Čbela ("The Slovene Bee", 1851) edited by Anton Janežič, three in Zora ("Dawn") and one in the almanac Vodnikov spomenik ("Vodnik's Monument", 1852–1853). Around twenty texts remained unpublished at the time of her death.

One of her best-known works is the tale of Veronika of Desenice, a tragic heroine from the Renaissance period that was killed due to her involvement in a love affair at the court of the Counts of Celje. In the story, entitled Nedolžnost in sila (Innocence and Force), she developed the motif of Veronika as a Slavic heroine and Slavicized the names of Hermann II of Celje and his son Frederick to Jerman and Miroslav. Another story, Rožmanova Lenčica, also featured a female heroine from the 15th century that went to fight against the Turks in place of her murdered father and returned marry her lover on Bled Island. Other important stories include Izdajstvo in sprava (Betrayal and Reconciliation), about the Albanian hero Kastriot Skanderbeg, Povest o Bolgarskem knezu Borisu (The Tale of Bulgarian Duke Boris) about the conversion of the Bulgarians to Christianity, and the story Slavljanski mučenik (A Slavic Martyr) about the Slovak political hero Vilko Šulek executed by the Hungarians. In Svatoboj puščavnik (Svatoboj the Hermit), she wrote about a defeated leader that went into the desert where, in simple surroundings, he recognized the importance of life. She wrote two poems: Zmiraj krasna je narava (Always Beautiful Is Nature) and Donava (The Danube). She also composed a number of songs for the piano with Slovene lyrics.