Ľudovít Štúr (1815-1856) is a symbol of national togetherness, as he is the one who formulated the Slovak national ideology, said President Andrej Kiska in his speech at the nationwide commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Štúr's birth at his birthplace, the village of Uhrovec (Trenčín region) on Saturday. These celebrations were the culmination of the whole commemorative Year of Ľudovít Štúr, and have been attended by all the highest political representatives. According to Prime Minister Robert Fico, Ľudovít Štúr didn't represent just patriotism of words, but patriotism of deeds. His life story can serve as a plea to young people to actively seek to influence the public life in their country, said Parliament Chairman Peter Pellegrini. Pellegrini noted in his speech that when Štúr was 20 years old, he became a widely recognized leader of students, at the age of 27 he undertook a courageous project of codifying the Slovak literary language and at the age of 34 he became one of the leaders of the Slovak national movement during the turbulent revolutionary events in years 1848-49. "What Štúr and his contemporaries dreamt of became reality in the 20th century. We are a modern nation; we live in our own state. We managed to maintain our language and our culture, we have integrated among the developed and thriving European countries, in which all people have their human and civil rights guaranteed and where rights of the ethnic and religious minorities are also guaranteed," said Pellegrini.
You can hear more about the life and work of Ľudovít Štúr also in this week's broadcast of RSI.
