On Thursday, 18 June 2026, stage and film actress Ivanka Mežan celebrates her 100th birthday.

Ivanka Mežan first stepped onto the stage of the Slovenian National Theatre in the liberated territory of Črnomelj in 1944, when she was just seventeen years old. After seeing her as Angélique in Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, Filip Kumbatovič Kalan described her as “a girl with natural nobility.” And when she made her debut on the stage of Drama Ljubljana, her fellow actress and later close friend Mila Kačič reportedly exclaimed: “We’ve found our Ophelia!” Soon enough, that prediction came true: in 1948, she played Ophelia in Hamlet, directed by Dr. Branko Gavella. Her theatrical path was distinctive and exceptional. Among many memorable roles, she portrayed Angelika Glembay in Krleža’s The Glembays, Klärchen in Goethe’s Egmont, Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the Bride in Lorca’s Blood Wedding, Beatie Bryant in Wesker’s Roots, Dominika in Remec’s Workshop of Clouds, Mrs Tereza in Grum’s An Event in the Town of Goga, Sgriccia in Pirandello’s The Giants of the Mountain, and Varvara Petrovna in Dostoevsky’s Demons.

Alongside Marija Nablocka and Marija Vera, she embraced some of the most demanding theatrical challenges of her time. Together with Stane Sever, she formed an unforgettable stage partnership in Anouilh’s Ornifle, while in Korun’s now legendary production of Aeschylus’s Oresteia, she created an irreplaceable Cassandra. Following a period away from the theatre, she returned to create the transcendent, almost mythical figure of the Gypsy woman in the world premiere production of Šeligo’s Wedding.

Through an extraordinary range of performances in both theatre and film, she continually drew critical acclaim. Over the course of her rich artistic career, she created an exceptional body of work and received numerous honours, among them the Borštnik Ring and, most recently, the Ita Rina Award for lifetime achievement. Since 2019, she has also been an honorary citizen of Ljubljana.

As Dr. Petra Pogorevc writes in the accompanying essay to her film monograph, perhaps even more important than Ivanka Mežan’s many roles is the unique artistic imprint she has left on each of her characters, as well as her luminous, spirited, and deeply sensitive presence: a quality familiar to all of us who have watched her on stage over the years and met her in theatre corridors and at premieres.

Dearest Ivanka,

on this remarkable anniversary, we extend to you our warmest and most heartfelt wishes.

Yours,

Drama