Ján Botto

Ján Botto (born January 27, 1829 in Felsőszkálnok ( Slov. Vyšný Skálnik), Gemer-Kleinhont County , Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia ); † April 28, 1881 in Neusohl , Austria-Hungary ) was a Slovak romantic poet, writer of the Štúr -Generation and co-founder of the first Slovak high school in Großrauschenbach (Slov. Revúca).

Life

Botto comes from a farming family. He was the second son of the farmer Juraj Botto and his wife Katarina Gajdáčová-Cabanová. He attended a Latin school in Osgyán (Slov. Ožďany) and from 1843 he studied at the Evangelical Lyceum in Leutschau , where he participated for the first time in the Slovak national movement and wrote his first works. From 1847 he studied geodesy at the Polytechnic in Pest . There the revolutionary events of 1848 overtook him . After the suppression of the revolution, he continued his studies, which he successfully completed in 1851. After completing his studies, he worked as a surveyor in various, then Upper Hungarian, now Slovak cities such as Martin , Schemnitz and Neusohl as well as in rural regions of what is now central Slovakia. From August 1, 1856, he worked as a freelance surveyor in Theissholz and in Turz County . In the 1860s he settled in Schemnitz. From 1870 he lived in Neusohl .

On June 6th and 7th, 1861 he was a participant in the National Assembly in St. Martin an der Turz , in which the memorandum of the Slovak nation was declared.

Through his freelance work as a surveying engineer , he developed a certain wealth that made him financially independent. Therefore he was able to support the Slovak culture and its facilities financially. He subsidized the Slovak cultural institute Matica slovenská and was one of the founders of the first Slovak high school in Großrauschenbach.

Botto began to deal with literature as early as his high school days in Leutschau. There he met Pavol Dobšinský , the well-known collector of Slovak folklore and editor of Slovak folk tales, who had a strong literary influence on him. His first literary works appeared in (partly handwritten) student magazines of the time.

Ján Botto on a Czechoslovakia stamp from 1989 (Michel no .: CS 2993)

His literary breakthrough came with his ballad Smrť Jánošíková ( Eng . "Jánošík's Death"), which was published in the Almanac Lipa ("Die Linde") in 1862. In this ballad, which consists of nine chants, Botto describes the person of the famous robber chief and Slovak folk hero Juro Jánošík in the retrospective . In it he describes the struggle of opposing forces: good and evil; he describes Jánošík in opposing images, the 'hero as a prisoner' and the 'hero as a fighter for freedom'. Up to the present day this ballad is not only one of the most important works of the poet, but also of the entire Slovak romantic literature. Botto's ballad Smrť Jánošíková has also been translated into several foreign languages (including English , Hungarian ).

Jan Botto's grave at the Evangelical Cemetery in Neusohl

His literary activity reached its climax with the publication of the Spevy Jána Botta collection, which was published in Prague in 1880. Ján Botto was never married and did not leave any descendants. He died on April 28, 1881 in Neusohl and was buried there on May 1, 1881 in the Protestant cemetery.

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His work can be classified in the period of romanticism . His first poems were published in Leutschauer magazines, then further works in various Slovak literary magazines such as Sokol ("Der Falke") and Orol ("Der Adler"). The main motif of his work was Slovak folk culture with patriotic elements. In addition, Botto also wrote about current topics of his time.

His translations come mainly from Slavic ( A. Mickiewicz , AS Chomjakow ) and Hungarian literature ( S. Petőfi ).

Allegorical compositions

1846 - Svetský víťaz (Secular Victor )

1846 - Povesti slovenské (Slovak sagas)

1846 - Báj na Dunaji (legend on the Danube )

1847 - K mladosti (To the youth)

Poklad Tatier (The Treasure of the Tatras )

Obraz Slovenska (The Image of Slovakia)

Ballads

Dva hroby (Two graves)

Z vysokých javorov lístočky padajú (The leaves fall from tall maple trees)

Tajný šuhaj (Mysterious Boy)

Práčka na Rimave (The Washerwoman of Rimava)

Rimavín

Žltá ľalia (Yellow Lily)

Ctibor

Margita a Besná

Lucijný stolček (Luzia's little table)

Occasional poems

Vojenské piesne (military songs )

Duma nad Dunajom (poem about the Danube)

K holubici (To the pigeon)

Ohlas na "Hlas z Martina", 6th lipeň ( echo of the "Voice from Martin", 6th June)

Ku dňu 6. jún (On June 6th [1861], welcome to Martin's memorandum)

August 4, 1863 (August 4, 1863, poem of praise for the creation of Matica slovenská )

Nad mohylou J. Kollára (Above Jan Kollár's burial mound )

Dumka na blahú pamäť Sládkovičovu (poem in memory of Sládkovič )

Nad hrobom Sládkovičovým pri sadení lipy (Above Sládkovič's grave when a linden tree was planted)

K hodom Slávy

January 12, 1870

Vrahom (The Murderers)

Compositions

1846 - Pieseň Jánošíkova ( Jánošík's Song)
1858 - Krížne cesty (Stations of the Cross)
1862 - Smrť Jánošíkova (Jánošík's death)
O Alžbete Báthoryčke (About Elisabeth Báthory , manuscript)

Appreciation

In 1979, his likeness was placed on the 100 kroner coin .

literature

Encyklopédia slovenských spisovateľov, Bratislava 1984, vol. 1, p. 65ff (Slovak)

Ján Botto: Básnické dielo, Kalligram, Ústav slovenskej literatúry SAV, Bratislava 2006, ISBN 80-7149-915-3 (Slovak)

Individual evidence

^ The ancestors of Jan Botto are said to come from Italy . The family tree goes back to an ancestor named "Rubald" and is said to go back to 1153. This statement was made by the poet Ivan Kasko .
↑ The eight-year Protestant grammar school in Großrauschenbach was the first grammar school with Slovak as the language of instruction in the entire Kingdom of Hungary. It was opened on September 18, 1862 and was financed by donations from the Evangelical Church AB as well as from wealthy private individuals. Ján Botto also supported the school as a patron . The grammar school was closed on August 20, 1874 by the Hungarian authorities because of the spread of " Pan-Slavic " ideas.
↑ Botto had been working on this ballad since 1848.
^ Czechoslovakia - Czechoslovakia CSSR 1960-1990 - Jan Botto 100 Kronen 1979 mint condition , accessed on May 15, 2011.

Web links

Commons : Ján Botto - collection of images, videos and audio files

Ján Botto an osobnosti.sk (Slovak)
Ján Botto at zlatyfond.sme.sk (Slovak)

personal data
SURNAME	Botto, Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Janko Maginhradský (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Slovak writer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 27, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vyšný Skálnik
DATE OF DEATH	April 28, 1881
Place of death	Neusohl

[1] The ancestors of Jan Botto are said to come from Italy . The family tree goes back to an ancestor named "Rubald" and is said to go back to 1153. This statement was made by the poet Ivan Kasko .

[2] The eight-year Protestant grammar school in Großrauschenbach was the first grammar school with Slovak as the language of instruction in the entire Kingdom of Hungary. It was opened on September 18, 1862 and was financed by donations from the Evangelical Church AB as well as from wealthy private individuals. Ján Botto also supported the school as a patron . The grammar school was closed on August 20, 1874 by the Hungarian authorities because of the spread of " Pan-Slavic " ideas.

[3] Botto had been working on this ballad since 1848.

[4] Czechoslovakia - Czechoslovakia CSSR 1960-1990 - Jan Botto 100 Kronen 1979 mint condition , accessed on May 15, 2011.