Ján Kollár (; 29 July 1793 – 24 January 1852) was a Slovak writer (mainly poet), archaeologist, scientist, Lutheran pastor, politician, and main ideologist of

Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement that took shape in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with promoting integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled the South ...

Life

He studied at the Lutheran Lyceum in

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

(Pozsony,

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, now

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). In 1817 he enrolled in the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

. His attendance at the Wartburgfest (18 October 1817) has since been credited as being a formative experience with regards to his views on

. He spent most of his adult life as a chaplain to the populous but poor Slovak

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

community in Pest (

, today part of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

). From 1849, he was a professor of Slavic

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeolo ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, and several times he also acted as a counselor to the Austrian government for issues around the

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 ...

. He entered the Slovak national movement in its first phase. His

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

(since 1974) in Mošovce was installed in the former

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

, which was the only masoned part of Kollár's otherwise wooden birth-house. The rest of the house burned down in a fire on 16 August 1863. In 2009 a replica was rebuilt of the original birth-house, which is now a museum.

Views

He worked out a conception of Slav reciprocity. He admitted 4 standard languages:

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Polish, Czechoslovak and

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

Works

Besides writing poetry he also wrote technical literature. * Slávy Dcera (1824; The daughter of Sláva), collection of two (37 and 39

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

s) cycles In this work he worked out the conception of Slavic reciprocity. He expressed his feelings to a woman but this love had transformed to a love to his homeland. The main thematics of this work are: •love •patriotism It is divided into 5 chapters and it has a foreword. Předzpěv (Prelude)
The author expressed his fears that the Slovaks will disappear from the face of Europe like other Slavic tribes before. He asked the Slovaks to ask for help from the Russian nation. 1. Sála
This part contains love sonnets. Kollár glorifies his love Mína, depicting her as an ideal of a Slavic maid, the daughter of goddess Sláva. 2. Labe, Rén, Vltava
In these parts, the author takes us to places where Slavic tribes lived before. He is disappointed because these areas belong to foreign countries now. 3. Dunaj
The author arrives to Slovakia, disillusioned by the poverty of this area. He is highly disappointed and longs for death. 4. Léthé 5. Acheron
Mína becomes a fairy and takes the author to Slavic heaven and hell. * ''O literární vzájemnosti mezi kmeny a nářečími slavskĭmi'' (Reciprocity Between the Various Tribes and Dialects of the Slavic Nation, edited and translated into English by Alexander Maxwell)

Legacy

* Guta (Gúta) is a town in southern

with a Hungarian majority. It was renamed "Kolárovo" in 1948. * Streets in Stara Pazova,

Kisač Kisač ( sr-cyr, Кисач; Slovak: Kysáč) is a suburban settlement of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. The settlement has a Slovak ethnic majority. Name In Serbian and Croatian the village is known as ''Kisač'' (Кисач); in Slovak as ...

, Padina and

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

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 ...

are named in his honor. * The gymnasium in Bački Petrovac (

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 ...

) bears his name.

Gallery

Image:Mošovce, Ján Kollár.jpg, Statue of Ján Kollár in Mošovce Image:Kollárov_dom.jpg, Birth-house of Ján Kollár in Mošovce Image:Kollar.jpg, Motto Image:Izba_Kollar.jpg, Museum of Ján Kollár in Mošovce

References

External links

* AUTY, R
Ján Kollár, 1793–1852.
''The Slavonic and East European Review'', Vol. 31 (1952), No. 76: 74–91. * KARÁSEK, J
''Kollárova dobrozdání a nástin životopisný z roku 1849''
V Praze: Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost an umění, 1903. 113 p. - available at ULB's Digital Library * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kollar, Jan 1793 births 1852 deaths People from Turčianske Teplice District People from the Kingdom of Hungary Slovak Lutherans Slovak poets Czech poets Czech male poets Slovak scientists Slovak politicians Slovak philologists Linguists from Slovakia Slovak philosophers Mošovce 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers 19th-century Lutheran clergy Burials at Olšany Cemetery