200th anniversary of the birth of Karol Kuzmány

200 Sk commemorative silver coin

Karol Kuzmány (16. 11. 1806 – 14. 8. 1866) – writer, church dignitary, pedagogue and deputy chairman of “Matica Slovenská” (Slovak Cultural Society) was one of the central personalities of the national, literary and religious life in Slovakia in the 19th century. He served at the side of the “Štúrovci” (the young generation around Ľ. Štúr, the great Slovak awakener) in the Slovak national movement. In 1849 he was a member of the delegation which submitted the document with the national and state-legal requirements of Slovaks to Emperor Franz Joseph I. He participated in the establishment of “Matica Slovenská” in 1863; became its first deputy chairman and played an important role in its activities. He was an organizer of literary activities and the publisher of “Hronka”, the literary magazine (1836 – 1838). He is the author of the theoretical work O kráse (On beauty, 1836), the poetic composition Bela (1836), and the philosophical novel Ladislav (1838). He also devoted himself to spiritual poetry, religious work and translations of world literature. In 1859 his proposal for the organization of the Evangelical Church in Hungary was implemented through the Imperial Protestant Patent.