In Memory of Lado Kralj

Lado Kralj, a writer, literary and theatre critic, dramaturge, editor, translator and professor, died at the age of 85. Born in Slovenj Gradec in 1938, he studied Comparative Literature and English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, where he also earned a Ph.D. in Expressionism in Slovenian and German Literature.
For a short period of time, he was the artistic director of the SNG Drama Ljubljana. From the end of the 1960s, he was a key figure in the founding and spreading of a new, avant-garde aesthetic in Slovenian theatre. Later, he was significantly involved in the theatre festivals in Yugoslavia and Slovenia. In the course of the transitions between practice and theory, he spent two decades lecturing on the history of drama and its theory at the Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, thus developing in young intellectuals a sense of the historical avant-garde of the 20th century. Among other things, he was also leading a seminar on theatre criticism.
His collection of short fiction, Kosec koso brusi (2010), was awarded the best debut novel and fable. In 2014, he published another novel, Če delaš omleto. As an author, he has signed the scholarly works Expressionism, Theory of Drama and Comparative Articles, and as an editor, he has signed the Zbrano delo Slavka Gruma (1976) and Zgodbe iz tridesetih let (2010) by Milena Mohorič.
After graduating, he studied at the New York University and was a dramaturg at the avant-garde theatre The Performing Garage. He was a co-founder of the Glej and Pekarna theatres.
In 2020 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Theatre Critics and Researchers of Slovenia.