The Ján Kollár Gymnasium and Students' Home ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Гимназија ″Јан Колар″ са домом ученика, Gimnazija ″Jan Kolar″ sa domom učenika; ) in

Bački Petrovac Bački Petrovac ( sr-Cyrl, Бачки Петровац; ; ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 5,227, while the municipality has 11,512 inha ...

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, founded in 1919, is a public coeducational

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

( gymnasium, similar to preparatory school) serving primarily communities of

Slovaks in Serbia According to the 2022 census, Slovaks ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Словаци, Slovaci) in Serbia number 41,730, constituting 0.63% of the country's population. They mainly live in Vojvodina (39,807), where they constitute the third largest ethnic group ...

and the rest of the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

region. Initially established by evangelical priest Samuel Štarke and Julius Kubanyi, the gymnasium overcame early challenges, including the threat of closure due to lack of infrastructure, by constructing its building through voluntary contributions and support from

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and overseas

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

. The institution experienced growth in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, developing educational facilities and a library. During

World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was Invasion of Yugoslavia, invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis powers, Axis forces and partitioned among Nazi Germany, Germany, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), It ...

, it served as a resistance center against fascism despite being formally closed. In the post-war period, the gymnasium saw a significant increase in student enrolment, founded a boarding school, and opened a Slovak teacher training school. In 1969, the first Serbian language department opened, and the school was renamed after Slovak poet Jan Kolar. The Students' Home section of the institution was opened in 1997.

References

{{Authority control Gymnasiums in Serbia Bački Petrovac Educational institutions established in 1919 Serbia–Slovakia relations Czechoslovakia–Yugoslavia relations Minority schools Bilingual schools International schools in Serbia

See also

References