in the 1920s and 1930s, he was active in spreading the anti-fascist sentiment among slovene intellectuals. in 1922, he was arrested by the italian authorities while visiting his native village, which was then under italian jurisdiction. he was released after the intervention of the yugoslav authorities. in ljubljana, gruden soon became part of the local left liberal intellectual circles. he collaborated with renowned journals such as "ljubljanski zvon" and "sodobnost", and frequented authors such as josip vidmar, juš kozak, ferdo kozak, fran albreht, stanko leben, lojze ude and anton vodnik.