President Andrej Kiska attended the celebrations of 550 years of Academia Istropolitana.
The first higher education institution in Slovakia was celebrated at Comenius University in Bratislava. According to Comenius University chancellor Karol Micieta, thanks to Academia Istropolitana and its successors, university education has a tradition of many centuries in Slovakia. Universities led to the promotion of education and also to increasing prestige for rulers and the self-esteem of nations. "The existence of a university was one of the attributes of national and cultural emancipation and acquired national importance", said Micieta. The Comenius University chancellor stressed that several scholars of European importance have studied at this first university in what is now Slovakia. For example, he pointed to the mathematician Regiomontanus, who lectured on the possible rotation of the Earth around the Sun as early as 100 years before Galileo. "His astronomical tables were probably also used by Christopher Columbus on his voyage to America", said Micieta. Academia Istropolitana was founded in Bratislava in 1465 based on the University of Bologna. It had four faculties - artistic, medical, law and theological. It was closed in 1490 due to financial difficulties. The mantle of successor to Academia Istropolitana was taken up by Comenius University, which was founded in 1919.
Source: TASR
