200th anniversary of the birth of Pavol Jozef Šafárik

200 Sk commemorative silver coin

Pavol Jozef Šafárik (13.5.1795 Kobeliarov – 26.5.1861 Prague), writer, historian, linguist and ethnographer, was a leading figure in Slovak and Czech academic life during the period of the national revival. He worked as director and professor at the Serbian school in Novi Sad, and later as an editor in Prague. From 1848, he was the director of the University library and professor emeritus of Slavonic philology at the Prague University. As a result of intensive study and research on old Slavonic culture and the history of Slavonic nations he wrote the extensive work: “History of the Slavonic Language and the Literature of its Dialects”, together with the works “On the Origin of the Slavs”; “Slavonic Antiquities”, and “Slavonic Ethnography”.