Janko Jesenský (30 December 1874 – 27 December 1945) was a versatile literary and socially engaged figure and a leading exponent of Slovak literary modernism. He belonged to the ‘lost generation’ that experienced the horrors of World War One first hand, in his case after joining the Czechoslovak Legion on the Russian front. In the Czechoslovak Republic established after the war, he became a župan (governor of a Slovak province). In 1929 he was appointed vice-president of the Regional Office in Bratislava. As a poet, Jesenský sought to find his own voice. He was inspired by Byron, Heine, Petőfi, Pushkin, Lermontov and Sládkovič. In parts of his ‘journalistic poetry’, he commented wittily and ironically on life between the wars and during World War Two. In his novels, he employed the grotesque as a device of literary scandalisation. The pinnacle of Jesenský’s fictional oeuvre is his two-volume novel Demokrati (Democrats), a bravura artistic mosaic encompassing virtually every aspect of life in the First Republic.
Obverse:
The obverse shows a half-length portrait of Janko Jesenský and, below it, a facsimile of his signature. In the background are sheets of paper bearing the titles of selected works by Jesenský: ‘NOVELY’,‘VERŠE’, ‘ZO STARÝCH ČASOV’, ‘MALOMESTSKÉ ROZPRÁVKY’ and ‘ČIERNE DNI’. To the right of the portrait is the Slovak coat of arms. Inscribed horizontally along the bottom of the design are the name of the issuing country ‘SLOVENSKO’ and the year of issuance ‘2024’, one above the other. To the right of the signature is the mint mark of the Kremnica Mint, consisting of the letters ‘MK’ placed between two dies, and to the left are the stylised letters ‘MS’, referring to the obverse designer Martin Sabol.
Reverse:
The reverse is dominated by a bust portrait of Janko Jesenský. To the left of the portrait is the coin’s denomination ‘10’, and to the right is the currency ‘EURO’. Inscribed along the upper left edge of the design is the subject’s year of birth ‘1874’ and forename ‘JANKO’. Along the right edge are his surname ‘JESENSKÝ’ and year of death ‘1945’. At the left edge, above Jesenský’s shoulder, are the stylised letters ‘IŘ’, referring to the reverse designer Ivan Řehák.
| Designer: | Martin Sabol (obverse), Ivan Řehák (reverse) |
| Composition: | .900 silver, .100 copper |
| Weight: | 18 g |
| Diameter: | 34 mm |
| Edge: | • AUTENTICKÝ GLOSÁTOR SLOVENSKÉHO MALOMESTSKÉHO ŽIVOTA (Astute observer of Slovak small-town life) |
| Producer: | Kremnica Mint |
| Engraver: | Dalibor Schmidt |
| Issuing volume: | 4,000 coins in brilliant uncirculated quality 8,900 coins in proof quality |
| Issuing date: | 7 November 2024 |
