France Prešeren (3 December 1800 – 8 February 1849) is a Carniolan Romantic poet.
Although he also writes in German, he mainly creates in Slovene, his native tongue.
He inspires virtually all Slovene literature thereafter and is generally considered the greatest Slovene poet.
His poetry is predominantly lyrical, and primarily deals with his unfulfilled love towards Julija Primic, as well as towards his homeland and the suffering humanity.
He also writes some high quality epic poetry, for example the first Slovene ballade and the Slovene national epic.