Leopold Suhodolčan

Who was Leopold Suhodolčan?

Leopold Suhodolčan was a Slovene writer, best known for his juvenile fiction. Together with Stanko Kotnik he was one of the conceptors of the Reading Badge of Slovenia competition that still runs today as a motivation for primary school children in reading and literacy.

Suhodolčan was born in Žiri in 1929. He worked as a teacher and headmaster in Prevalje in Slovenian Carinthia. Though he wrote adult fiction, he is better known for his writing for young readers. His children's books have also been translated and published outside Slovenia. He died in Golnik in 1980. The Central Carinthian Library in Ravne na Koroškem has a memorial room dedicated to Suhodolčan.

He won the Levstik Award twice, in 1965 for his book Velikan in Pajac and in 1979 for his book Piko Dinozaver and other books.