Matjaž Kmecl: key obituary facts
Is Matjaž Kmecl dead? Yes. Matjaž Kmecl died on November 7, 2026, at age 92.
Cause of death: Matjaž Kmecl's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Matjaž Kmecl known for?
Matjaž Kmecl was a Slovenian linguist, poet, and politician.
Matjaž Kmecl, a Slovenian linguist, poet and politician, died on November 7, 2026, aged 92.
Born in Dobovec pod Kumom on February 23, 1934, he completed the First Gymnasium in Celje in 1953, then graduated in Slavistics at the University of Ljubljana in 1959. He earned his doctorate there in 1970 with a dissertation titled *Uvod v razlago sodobne slovenske novele*, an inquiry into the interpretation of the contemporary Slovene novella.
Kmecl joined the university’s Department of the History of Slovene Literature as an assistant in 1960, serving until 1971; he later became a docent in the history of Slovene literature. His work spanned literary history and theory, alongside poetry, writing and drama. His public service began with his 1963 election as a council member of the Ljubljana Center municipal assembly. From 1982 to 1986, he served on the Executive Council of the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia and chaired its Republican Committee for Culture. He joined the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Slovenia in 1982 and its presidency in 1986, remaining there until the end of 1989. From 1990 to 1992, he was a directly elected member of the five-member Presidency of the Republic.