150th anniversary of the birth of Ľudmila Podjavorinská

€10 silver collector coin

Ľudmila Podjavorinská was a pen name of Ľudmila Riznerová (26 April 1872 – 2 March 1951), whose writings extolled her native region below Veľká Javorina hill. She is regarded as one of the most significant Slovak women writers and as the founder of modern Slovak literature for children and young people. She wrote poems, epic verse and recollective, non-moralising prose. She employed humour in her work and wrote magical stories about animals and people. Besides establishing a substantial oeuvre of children’s literature, she engaged herself in major issues of the time. These included women’s issues, in particular the effort to give women a greater role in building up the new Czechoslovak Republic and its institutions. She worked at the Nové Mesto nad Váhom office of the Matica slovenská cultural organisation, where she served as a committee member in the Literary History Department. She also played an active role in the establishment of memorials to the Slovak nation-builders of the Štúr generation. In 1947 she was awarded the title of National Artist.