Born 29 January 1912 in Mýto pod Ďumbierom. He went to school in Podbrezová and then studied at the Teachers Institute in Banská Bystrica (1924 - 1928). Until 1940 he taught at the elementary school in Mýto pod Ďumbierom and then became a teacher at the school in Podbrezová where he had been once educated. From 1945 to 1947 he lived in Nová Baňa. He was also active in the creative group of film makers in Banská Bystrica. During the Slovak National Uprising in 1944 he worked in the Revolutionary National Council but was too ill to join the armed forces. Švantner died prematurely 13 October 1950 in Prague.
