Matica slovenská
Encyclopedia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
's public-law cultural and scientific institution focusing on topics around the Slovak nation
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
. It is based in the city of Martin
Martin, Slovakia
Martin is a city in northern Slovakia, situated on the Turiec river, between the Malá Fatra and Veľká Fatra mountains, near the city of Žilina. The population numbers approximately 58,000, which makes it the eighth largest city in Slovakia...
. It is not to be confounded with Slovenska matica
Slovenska matica
Slovenska matica , also known as Matica slovenska, is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, founded in the 19th century as an institution for the scholarly and cultural progress of Slovenes...
(also sometimes referred to as Matica slovenska), an analogous Slovene institution.
Before the creation of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
Slovak Academy of Sciences
The Slovak Academy of Sciences SAV is the main scientific and research institution in Slovakia fostering basic and strategic basic research...
(1942/1953), the Matica functioned as a substitute for a general supreme scientific, and initially even for any other, institution of the Slovaks. It is governed by the "Act on Matica slovenská" of 1997. In 1994, the Matica had some 450 local branches and approximately 60,000 members with club houses in many towns.
The anniversary of the 1863 establishment of Matica slovenská on August 4 is locally known as Deň Matice Slovenskej, a Remembrance Day in Slovakia
Remembrance days in Slovakia
Remembrance Days in Slovakia are working days.For Public holidays in Slovakia see National holidays in Slovakia....
.
Name
Matica slovenská's name is a source of puzzlement among many Slovaks. "Matica" used in this context is a SerbianSerbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
word and means "source" or "mother bee". The first Matica was the Serbian "Matica"
Matica srpska
The Matica srpska is the oldest cultural-scientific institution of Serbia. Matica srpska was founded in 1826 in Budapest and moved to Novi Sad in 1864....
founded in 1826. It was a kind of volunteer cultural association and similar "matica"s were also established in other Slavic countries. In today Slovak language
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
"matica" means "matrix".
The first Matica (1863 - 1875)
The founding of the Matica was inspired by the establishment of the Serbian Matica (Matica srpskaMatica srpska
The Matica srpska is the oldest cultural-scientific institution of Serbia. Matica srpska was founded in 1826 in Budapest and moved to Novi Sad in 1864....
) in 1826 and of the Czech "Matice česká" in 1831. The Slovak Matica went on from the Tatrín association (1844 – 1849, the first Slovak nationwide cultural institution).
Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, which in turn was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. It was the Austrian emperor who – as a reaction to the many requirements of the 1861 Memorandum of the Slovak Nation - allowed the Slovaks to found a national cultural institution – they were allowed to found a "unity of lovers of Slovak life and nation". As a result, the Matica slovenská was founded on August 4, 1863 at an assembly of some 5000 Slovak patriots in Turčiansky Svätý Martin (today Martin
Martin, Slovakia
Martin is a city in northern Slovakia, situated on the Turiec river, between the Malá Fatra and Veľká Fatra mountains, near the city of Žilina. The population numbers approximately 58,000, which makes it the eighth largest city in Slovakia...
). It was based in the same town and was financed exclusively by voluntary donations from Slovaks and from the Austrian emperor. The first chairman was Štefan Moyzes and his vice-chairmen were Karol Kuzmány, Ján Országh and Ján Francisci
Jan Francisci
Jan Francisci was an organist and composer born in Neusohl, Kingdom of Hungary . In 1709, he succeeded his father as cantor there before going to Vienna in 1722. He visited J.S. Bach in Leipzig in 1725. He worked as a church musician in until 1735, when he returned to Neusohl...
. In 1873, the Matica had some 1300 members, many of which included entities such as municipalities, libraries, schools and associations.
The Matica slovenská drew members from all parts of the nation. It became the representative and symbol of Slovak "independence". From the beginning, the Matica was forbidden to be involved in political activities and to establish local branches. Nevertheless, its supporters could be found in many towns and settlements and its membership was quite large. The Matica was especially involved in collecting activities – it laid the foundation of national librarianship, and of archives and museum sciences in Slovakia. It also developed a broad education program for the public, published various practical manuals, calendars, readers, and scientific monographs, and initiated the development of amateur theatre and of social singing. It also supported research activities and published the results of the research in the first Slovak scientific journal "Letopisy" (literally: annals). Finally, the Slovak National Museum
Slovak National Museum
The Slovak National Museum is the most important institution focusing on scientific research and cultural education in the field of museological activity in Slovakia...
was founded within the Matica. The establishment of scientific departments (linguistics, law and history, philosophy, mathematics etc.) was in preparation in 1871, but could not be carried out anymore before 1875 (see below). Gradually, Matica became a center for organizing the national life of the Slovaks and served as a substitute for national political institutions, whose establishment was prohibited in the Kingdom of Hungary under the conditions of strong Magyarisation efforts.
The then Hungarian minister of the interior Kálmán Tisza
Kálmán Tisza
Kálmán Tisza de Borosjenő was the Hungarian prime minister between 1875 and 1890. He is credited for the formation of a consolidated Magyar government, the foundation of the new Liberal Party and major economic reforms that would both save and eventually lead to a government with popular...
had Matica abolished by force – by the decree No. 125 of April 6, 1875 and confiscation of its property (consisting exclusively of donations) in favour of the state. The official reasons given were that Matica was "against the government" and "anti-patriotic" – statements for which there was not the least evidence. The confiscated property went to support the process of enforced Magyarisation (e.g. foundation of the Magyarisation organisation FMKE). When interpellated by a Serbian member of the Diet (there were no Slovak deputies in the Diet) why Matica's property was not returned to the Slovaks, the then prime minister Kálmán Tisza answered that he did not know of a Slovak nation.
The second Matica (since 1919)
The Matica slovenská could not resume its activities until after the dissolution of the Kingdom of Hungary and establishment of CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1918, when the conditions for the national life of the Slovaks improved. On August 5, 1919, it was reopened and rededicated in the presence President Tomáš Masaryk
Tomáš Masaryk
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk , sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English, was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak politician, sociologist and philosopher, who as an eager advocate of Czechoslovak independence during World War I became the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia, also was...
. Matica slovenská played an important role in further development of Slovak culture and scholarship. lt was supported by a wide membership (in 1950, it had 1,125 local branches with more than 100,000 members). Institutional offices were built gradually. Local branches throughout Slovakia were primarily engaged in public education and cultural activities. The Matica also played a significant role in the development of amateur theatre. The Matica founded and operated one of the largest and most significant publishing houses in Slovakia, Neografia, which published scholarly journals, public education literature, classic and contemporary Slovak authors, translations of world literature, and especially supported and enhanced the publishing of literature for children and young people. The Matica established a unique collection of prints, manuscripts and pictures related to the development of Slovak national culture, which became the basis of the Slovak National Library
Slovak National Library
The Slovenská národná knižnica is the legal deposit and copyright for Slovakia. It is located in Martin.- External links :...
. It also established several research sections (for history, literature, history, linguistics, ethnography, philosophy, sociology, psychology etc.), which publish series of books, journals etc.. Before the establishment of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Matica was also the regulator of the Slovak language
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
.
The establishment of the Communist regime in 1948 initially threatened the existence of the Matica slovenská, since communist ideology, policy and the principles of socialist culture contradicted the principles upon which the Matica slovenská had been established. Local branches were dissolved, its research sections, journals and publishing activities gradually were transferred to other institutions or abolished. According to an act of the Slovak National Council of 1954, the Matica slovenská was reduced to the Slovak National Library and Biographic Institute with a limited role within the fields of librarianship, bibliography and archives. The Matica came under severe ideological and political control of the Communist party and of state organs. Many of the members of its staff were persecuted, discriminated or dismissed. The Communists did not manage to fully uproot the traditions and spirit of the Matica. They were manifested openly in 1963 during the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Matica slovenská and culminated in 1968-69 (the Prague spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
period) when Matica became a significant cultural and political institution again. An act of the Slovak National Council
National Council of the Slovak Republic
The National Council of the Slovak Republic , abbreviated to NR SR, is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral, and consists of 150 MPs, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation every four years....
re-established the local branches, new working places were established and the foundations for a new modern building were laid. After the defeat of the reform movement in Czecho-Slovakia in 1969, the normalization regime almost liquidated the effort to renew the Matica slovenská.
The collapse of the communist regime in November 1989 brought new environment for the development of Matica slovenská and the possibility for the public to become members has been renewed. In 1993 Matica made an agreement with the authoritarian prime minister of Slovakia Vladimír Mečiar
Vladimír Meciar
Vladimír Mečiar is a Slovak politician who was Prime Minister of Slovakia from 1990 to 1991, from 1992 to 1994, and from 1994 to 1998. He is the leader of the People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia...
. In exchange for Matica's political support for his political party HZDS, he gave Matica the Neografia publishing house for 1 Slovak crowns, even though Matica was allowed to sell it at any time for over 600 million Slovak crowns. Neografia then started printing among others hard pornography, fascist memoirs of members of clerical separatist Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana or the poetry of war criminal Radovan Karadžić
Radovan Karadžic
Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...
.
The attitude of Matica and its members during the social and political struggles in Slovakia around 1989 – 1995 was that it supported the ultra-conservative Languages Act, forcing the SNR to sign into law the VPN-version of the Languages Act and Matica also supported the Declaration of Independence of the Slovak Republic, both in 1992 (under Vladimír Mečiar Slovakia declared independence without anyone as much as asking the Slovak public). Matica slovenská was also strongly against the integration of Slovak Republic into the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and NATO, despite the fact that this very integration had even been part of Vladimír Mečiar's isolationist government declaration.
Matica slovenská was also responsible for the collection of voluntary goods and money for the so-called "National Treasure", created in 1992, whose purpose was to help finance the activities of the Matica. The value of the "National Treasure" was almost 40 million Slovak crowns after 12 years (in February 2005).
Institutions
The Matica includes the following institutions:- the Scientific, Informational and Members' Headquarters
- Monument of National Culture
- Slovak Literary Institute
- Slovak Historic Institute
- MS Archives
- MS Center for relationships of nationalities,
- MS Museum of Slovaks living Abroad (Krajanské múzeum),
- information and culture centers of Matica slovenská abroad,
- MS publishing house (publishes i.a. the journals Slovenské národné noviny, Slovenské pohľady, Slovensko)
- Lending Office of Folk and Other Costumes
- Cabinet for the Research of the History of Slovak Exile
Associated entities are especially:
- Nadácia Matice slovenskej – a foundation
- Neografia, a. s. – a printing company taken over by Matica in 1993; historically for decades the most modern and significant printing house of Slovakia producing for Western Europe;
- Vydavateľstvo MS, s. r. o. – the company of the above-mentioned publishing house
Leaders
Since its establishment, the Matica has been headed by important figures from Slovak social and cultural life.Chairmen and/or vice-chairmen of the Matica:
- 1863-1875: Štefan Moyzes, Karol Kuzmány, Ján Országh, Ján Francisci, J. Kozáček
- 1919-1945: Pavol Országh HviezdoslavPavol Országh HviezdoslavPavol Országh Hviezdoslav Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav (* February 2, 1849 in Vyšný Kubín (Felsőkubin), Austrian Empire, Kingdom of Hungary, † November 8, 1921 in Dolný Kubín, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), was a Slovak poet, dramatist, translator and for a short time member...
, Martin Dula, František Richard Osvald, Vavro Šrobár, J. Janoška, M. Bláha, J. Vanovič, J. Országh - 1945-51 and 1968-74: Ladislav Novomeský
- 1974-1990 : Vladimír Mináč
- since 1990: Jozef Markuš
Over the years secretaries and/or administrators of the Matica have included:
- Pavel Mudroň, Michal Chrástek, Jozef Škultéty, Ján Vlček, Štefan KrčméryŠtefan KrcméryŠtefan Krčméry was a Slovak poet, literary critic, historian, journalist, translator, and administrator of Matica slovenská...
, R. Klačko, Jozef Cíger Hronský, J. Martík, P. Vongrej. I. Sedlák and M. A. Kováč.
Financing
Matica slovenská's funding remains unclear and complicated. Matica's position, functions and financing were amended by several acts, the last major one being Law no. 68 from February 13, 1997 Z.z. The very first definition dictated by the law is that Matica slovenská is a "verejnoprávna ustanovizeň" a coupling of words that has never been explained in any law ever codified in the Slovak Republic (a problem that plagued the Slovak TelevisionSlovak Television
Slovak Television is a state-owned public television network in Slovakia. It was created in 1991 from the Slovak part of the former Czechoslovak Television...
for a long time). Verejnoprávna can roughly be translated as "having the right to do in the public's good". Among Matica's functions are such nonsensical and vague definitions as for example "making the national cultural heritage current" (sprítomňovať národné kultúrne dedičstvo). According to this law, Matica is also allowed to create textbooks for both elementary schools and high-schools in Slovakia.
Matica slovenská is allowed by law to receive money from the state and at the same time make business with its own property. Moreover, Matica receives purpose-bound dotations from the State budget of the Slovak Republic for fulfilling various tasks. Matica also receives resources from its members, from sponsors, other gifts and finally funds of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(Matica being strongly anti-EU). Matica slovenská also seeks to establish and manage various foundations devoted to the support of Slovak national culture and research.
Controversy
Today, Matica slovenská does not fulfill the duties for which it was created. With the Slovak people having their own independent state, the Slovak Republic, fully integrated into the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and Slovakia having its own Ministry of Culture taking care of cultural development in Slovakia in a transparent way, Matica slovenská serves many other, controversial purposes.
Its financial acitvities are not transparent, despite receiving funds from taxpayers. According to an article by Eva Mihočková published in major Slovak weekly Plus 7 Dní on October 7, 2010, there is proof that Matica slovenská lost almost all of the money (23-28 million Slovak crowns) of the so-called Slovak national treasure, by investing it through a now-bankrupt company Capital Invest, into the Podielové družstvo Slovenské investície (PDSI), a Non-bank financial institution
Non-bank financial institution
A non-bank financial institution is a financial institution that does not have a full banking license or is not supervised by a national or international banking regulatory agency. NBFIs facilitate bank-related financial services, such as investment, risk pooling, contractual savings, and market...
. The total value of the National treasure was approximately 995 000 EUR, of which approximately 232 000 EUR consists of artworks and gold.
Also, Matica slovenská recently started to publish its newspaper "Matičné zvesti" as an annex of a newspaper published by Slovenské hnutie obrody, an association praising the WWII Slovak Republic and its clero-fascist leader Jozef Tiso
Jozef Tiso
Jozef Tiso was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest, politician of the Slovak People's Party, and Nazi collaborator. Between 1939 and 1945, Tiso was the head of the Slovak State, a satellite state of Nazi Germany...
. The editor of Matičné zvesti said that the reason was lack of money for an own newspaper.
See also
- Matica hrvatskaMatica hrvatskaMatica hrvatska is one of the oldest Croatian cultural institutions, dating back to 1842. The name is somewhat idiosyncratic, best translated as "The Croatian Centre" . It is the largest publisher of Croatian language books...
- Matica srpskaMatica srpskaThe Matica srpska is the oldest cultural-scientific institution of Serbia. Matica srpska was founded in 1826 in Budapest and moved to Novi Sad in 1864....
- Slovenska maticaSlovenska maticaSlovenska matica , also known as Matica slovenska, is the second-oldest publishing house in Slovenia, founded in the 19th century as an institution for the scholarly and cultural progress of Slovenes...
- Matica crnogorskaMatica crnogorskaMatica crnogorska is a Montenegrin cultural institution. The name can be literally translated into English as the "Montenegrin queen bee," which is a metaphor meaning "the parent body of the Montenegrins."...