Jože Snoj (born March 17, 1934) is a Slovenian poet, novelist, journalist and essayist. He has been awarded the 2012 Prešeren Award for his lifetime work and rich literary opus. He was born in Maribor, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, into a wealthy Slovene family. His uncle, Franc Snoj, was a prominent member of the Slovene People's Party and a minister in the Royal Yugoslav Government. In April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia he escaped with his family from the Nazis to the Italian-occupied Lower Carniola. From there, the family had to flee again to Ljubljana in order to escape persecution by the Communist-led partisan movement. In 1947, his uncle Franc Snoj was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in a staged trial together with other liberal and social democrats who tried t