Although Zlobec is the only surviving representative of the four poets who marked the beginning of contemporary Slovenian literature with a joint collection of poems "Pesmi štirih" (Four Poets), Tone Pavček, Janez Menart and Kajetan Kovič were also represented at tonight's event, by their wives.

Zlobec said that the most important thing a man can do in "this crazy world, full of different truths and shallow pieces of information" is to read poetry. This brings calmness and time for self-reflection, he said.

The event was addressed by playwright and poet Ivo Svetina, who contributed the preface to Zlobec's most recently published book "Love - Miracle of Body and Soul" (Ljubezen - čudež duše in telesa), a collection of 90 of his love poems.

Svetina, who is also the president of the Writers' Association, said that Zlobec, whom friends like to call by his nickname Čiro, survived all the tragedies in his live because he had written poetry.

Zlobec has outlived both of his children, a son and a daughter.

Zlobec and painter Metka Krašovec, who contributed the illustrations for the jubilee collection, published about a month ago, agreed that her 100 images complemented "extraordinarily well" his poems even though they had originally not been intended for the book.

This evening, acclaimed actress Milena Zupančič interpreted Zlobec's poems, accompanied by harpist Mojca Vajgl Zlobko.

Zlobec was born on 4 July 1925 in Ponikve near Sežana, western Slovenia. In 1941, under Italian occupation, he was expelled from secondary school for writing poetry in Slovenian. Apart from his artistic work, he has been active in various areas of social life, including in politics.

Often he was critical of those in power, even in the previous regime, but the main inspiration for his poetry has always been love.

He has written over 200 love poems and his poetry has been recognised as a rare example of poetry in central Europe that explores love in its many segments, including playful love, passionate love and fatherly love.

Zlobec has received many prestigious awards for his work, including the top national accolade for artistic achievement, the Prešeren Prize, in 1982 and the Župančič Award for literature in 1978.

He has been a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) since 1985.

Zlobec has written some 30 poetry collections, while his body of work, which also includes prose, essays and translations, numbers 115 titles.