Background
Jenko was born as Martin Jenko in the Upper Carniolan village of Dvorje, in what was then the Austrian Empire.
Jenko was born as Martin Jenko in the Upper Carniolan village of Dvorje, in what was then the Austrian Empire.
After graduating from high school in Trieste, he went to Vienna, where he studied law.
He is sometimes considered the father of Slovenian national Romantic music Among other songs, he composed the melody for the Serbian national anthem Bože pravde ("God of Justice"), the former Slovenian national anthem Naprej, zastava Slave ("Forward, Flag of Glory!"), and the popular Serbian and Montenegrin anthem Onamo, "namo!. During his Viennese stay, he founded the Slovene Choir Society in Vienna, which was sponsored by the national liberal politician Valentin Zarnik.
He later moved on the other side of the Austrian-Serbian border to Belgrade, where he worked as a composer in the Serbian National Theatre.
He lived in Serbia until 1897, when he moved to Ljubljana in his native Carniola. He died in Ljubljana, and was buried in the Žale cemetery in the Bežigrad district.
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Serbian Learned Society]
Jenko was named among the first four members of the Academy of Arts of the Royal Serbian Academy of Sciences, named by King Milan I of Serbia on 5 April 1887.
