Štefan Marko Daxner

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Štefan Marko Daxner (born December 22, 1822, in Tiszolcz/Tisovec, Kingdom of Hungary – died April 11, 1891, in Tiszovc/Tisovec) was an ethnic Slovak lawyer, politician, publicist and poet from the lower nobility. He belonged to the Ľudovít Štúr generation and came from a long-standing noble family that moved from Switzerland to Hungary in the 14th century.

Daxner studied at the Lutheran Lyceum in Pressburg (now Bratislava) and at the College of Prešov. From 1846 to 1872 he worked as a lawyer in Tisovec, held various county positions, and served as an associate judge of the Debrecen Commercial Court.

Before the 1848 revolutions, in 1847 he drafted a program calling for Slovak national, cultural, political and social rights. He was sentenced to death by Hungarian authorities in 1848, but the Austrian army, which fought with the Slovaks against the Hungarians, freed him and he became a captain of Slovak volunteers during the 1848–1849 revolution.

Daxner co-authored key Slovak demands, including the Slovak Requests of Liptovský Mikuláš (1848) and the Requests of the Slovak Nation (1848), as well as the Memorandum of the Slovak Nation (1861). He helped found Matica slovenská (the Slovak Foundation) in 1863 and started the first Slovak gymnasium in Revúca in 1862.

He is buried at the National Cemetery in Martin. Scholars note his lasting influence: Lukáš Perný says Daxner elevated the idea of equality between nations, not just between people. Dalimír Hajko highlights his focus on ethics and law within the national emancipation process, and Rudolf Dupkala notes his alignment with Štúr’s view of the nation and the social contract in line with Rousseau and the French Revolution.