Žarko Petan

Žarko Petan (27 March 1929 – 2 May 2014) was a Slovenian writer, essayist, screenwriter, and theatre and film director.

Petan was born into a relatively wealthy urban middle-class family in Ljubljana, Slovenia, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

He spent his childhood in Zagreb, Croatia, where his father owned a hotel in the city centre.

In 1949, while serving in the Yugoslav People's Army, he was accused of enemy propaganda and sentenced to 9 years in jail.

Together with Dominik Smole, Taras Kermauner and Dane Zajc, he was one of the co-founders of the alternative theatre Stage 57, which challenged the rigid cultural policies of the Titoist regime.