Kersnik was born in Brdo Manor near Lukovica in Upper Carniola, then part of the AustrianDuchy of Carniola (now in Slovenia).[1] His father Jože Kersnik was a district judge, while his mother Berta Höffern was a local noblewoman. Kersnik grew up in a bilingual, German-Slovene environment. He attended the German-language grammar school in Ljubljana, but was expelled under accusations of Slovene nationalism.[2] He continued his studies under the private tutorship of Fran Levec, an influential Young Slovene literary historian.
Kersnik started his literary career as a German-language poet. Under the influence of Slovene post-Romantic authors Josip Stritar and Simon Jenko, he began writing in Slovene. He first wrote in late Romantic style, but under the influence of his personal friend Josip Jurčič, he switched to literary realism. He was a prolific author of short stories, feuilletons, and satires, in which he critically assessed the backwardness of the Slovene Lands of his time, and the radicalization of political life.
