Matica Slovenská (en. Slovak Matica) is the oldest Slovak national, cultural and scientific organization. The headquarters of Slovak Matica is the town of Martin, Slovakia as the center of the national culture of Slovaks, where it was founded in 1863 and revived in 1919. Slovak Matica is a public institution that operates as a national scientific and cultural centre. It has facilities both in the Slovak Republic and abroad. Slovak Matica works to develop and protect the national rights, identity, and development of Slovak culture and the Slovak nation. Slovak Matica is a legal entity. It establishes its organizational units on the territory of the Slovak Republic as well as abroad. The position and activity of Slovak Matica is regulated by Act no. 68/1997 Coll. on the Slovak Matica as amended and the Statutes of Slovak Matica.

Focus and mission of Slovak Matica

Slovak Matica is a public institution. It operates as a national, independent non-partisanship, supra-confessional, supra-departmental, scientific and cultural institution. Slovak Matica played an irreplaceable role in the process of national self-determination and protection of national rights, preservation of identity and development of the culture of the Slovak nation. The mission of Slovak Matica in the 21st century is to systematically develop the spiritual, national, cultural and social life of all members of the Slovak nation, as well as other fellow citizens living in the Slovak Republic. Slovak Matica develops and consolidates the national cultural life of the Slovak nation, its national awareness and educational level, while ensuring the creation and protection of cultural heritage and traditions. It establishes cooperation with members of nationalities living in the territory of the Slovak Republic, as well as with other nations abroad with the aim of learning about and exchanging cultural values. Slovak Matic also participates in the development of Slovak science, culture, art and education and all forms of spiritual and social life that strengthen national self-awareness, especially in the ranks of the Slovak intelligents´, students and youth. It maintains and develops special cooperation with maticas of Slavic nations and Slovak Maticas operating outside the territory of Slovakia.

Objectives of the Slovak Matica

The main tasks entrusted to the Slovak Matica by the state and defined in the Act on the Slovak Matica include in particular: consolidating Slovak patriotism; to deepen the relationship of citizens to the Slovak statehood; to do basic Slovak research; to participate in the development of local and regional culture; to work in particular on young people in the spirit of national, moral and democratic values; to increase the national awareness of Slovaks in the linguistically mixed territories of the Slovak Republic; to strengthen the relations of the cultures of citizens who declare themselves to national minorities and ethnic groups in the territory of the Slovak Republic with the Slovak national culture; to bring together creators and supporters of Slovak culture and science in the world; to support the promotion of the Slovak Republic also through its own information and cultural centers set up abroad; to develop contacts with European and world organizations on issues of culture, national identity, spiritual life and the protection of human values; to establish foundations and funds at home and abroad to support the national and cultural life of Slovaks and to reward the most important creators from defined areas of creative activity; to cooperate with state authorities and with local self-government bodies in the development of culture and social life; to publish original Slovak works of art, scientific works, educational and popular-scientific works, journalism and periodicals; to promote Slovak history, culture and personalities through original audiovisual documentaries, as well as to produce cultural news about its activities through electronic media and internet databases; to co-operate in the creation of textbooks and textbooks of certain subjects of social sciences for primary and secondary schools on the basis of the authorization of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic.

Departments

Headquarters

First building

The first historical residential building of Slovak Matica is called Národná svetlica (National flare). Its construction began in 1864 and the project was run by Karol Harrer and supported by Ján Nepomuk Bobula, to whom Harrer entrusted the construction of the property. The foundation stone in the center of Martin was laid on April 6, 1864, and its solemn tapping was performed by the then acting first vice-chairman of the Slovak Matica, Karol Kuzmány, an Evangelical priest and superintendent. The partially completed building was ceremoniously opened on August 8, 1865, as the House of the Slovak Matica and its second stage of construction was completed in 1869. In 1875, it was confiscated by Hungarian state and became property of FEMKE. The building was completed between 1899 and 1900. However, it got simultaneously adapted exclusively for the administrative needs of the Hungarian state authorities. After the revival of Slovak Matica on Jan. 1, 1919, the original seat was restored by the Czechoslovak government through the Ministry with a power of attorney for the administration of Slovakia. The Czechoslovak state authorities operated in it this time, and the capacity development plan of the maticas association was not sufficient. In August 1919, the idea arose to build a new, larger and more modern Maticas building, which came true in 1926, when the first historic building ceased to be the seat of the Slovak Matica. It was declared a cultural monument in 1963 and is currently a national cultural monument. Today, the building houses a permanent exhibition of the history of Slovak literature, exhibition spaces, deposits and specialized workplaces of the Literary Museum of the Slovak National Library.

Second building

The second building of Slovak Matica is currently the central seat of the institution on Pavel Mudroň Street in the wider centre of Martin. Its architect was the Martin builder Ján Palkovič and the construction work was carried out by the builder Stanislav Zachar from Vrútok. The foundation stone of the building was laid on August 13, 1924, during the August mother festivities. Construction took place from the autumn of 1924 to February 1926. The grand opening of the building took place on August 29, 1926. A monument to the famous Slovak nationalist and writer Svetozár Hurban-Vajanský was unveiled in the courtyard in front of the building. In 1965, he was replaced by the allegorical statue of Slovak Matica by the academic sculptor Ján Kulich, while the monument to Svetozár Hurban-Vajanský moved to the first mother building. In terms of architecture, the second building of the Slovak Matica belongs to the representative buildings of the city of Martin. Characteristic elements of the building such as high columns, portico, tympanums and strict symmetry make it a work of neoclassical architecture. Due to its societal significance, it was declared a cultural monument in 1963, and since 2002, it has been a national cultural monument. In addition to the administrative part, this also applies to the fencing, the garden park and the memorial plaque to the 48 tortured participants in the Slovak National Uprising of 1944. In the garden area, in the Park of St. Cyril and Methodius, there is a representative pantheon of busts of important national and mother actors. The first bust was unveiled on October 2, 2012, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the codifier of standard Slovak, Anton Bernolák. By the end of 2020, a total of fourteen busts of national actors were discovered in the area, which was installed in the following order:

Third building

After the adoption of the Library Act of May 2000, the Slovak National Library in Slovak Matica was separated from the Slovak Matica in July 2000 and became an independent legal entity, which acquired its registered office on Hostihora. Paradoxically, by law it was excluded from the Matica's structure, except the third, also the first historical building of the Slovak Matica. The third building became the seat of the Slovak National Library and the Slovak Matica office returned to the second parent building. The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone for the new, third building of the Slovak Matica on Hostihora (Martin) took place during the celebrations of the Slovak Matica centuries on August 4, 1963. Third building was opened by Vladimír Mináč.

History

Chairman of Slovak Matica

Literature