Jégé is the founder of Slovak historical fiction. His literary identity crystallized in the period of realism and naturalism, but he wrote the overwhelming majority of his works between the two world wars. In his historical novels and novellas he depicted soberly, perhaps even starkly, many stages of Slovak history and, in doing so, indirectly took issue with patriotic historical Romanticism. He was an expert on human nature, and the essence of his art lies in his drawing of characters. His handling of plot and structure is undistinguished, as is his style.

Jégé was born Ladislav Nádasi on 12 February 1866 in the north of Slovakia in the poor region called Orava, which has given the country many of its outstanding writers--including Martin Kukucín (1860-1928), Milo Urban (1904-1982), and the poet Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav (1849-1921). Before the birth...