Štefan Marko Daxner

Who was Štefan Marko Daxner?

Štefan Marko Daxner, Hungarian: Daxner István Márk was an ethnic Slovak lower nobleman, politician, lawyer, and poet in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was one of the most significant persons in Slovak history of the 19th century. He was a member of the Ľudovít Štúr generation.

His family is an old lower noble family, which emigrated from Switzerland to the Kingdom of Hungary in the 14th Century.

He studied at the Lutheran Lyceum of Bratislava and at the College of Prešov. Between 1846-72 he was a lawyer in Tisovec, an official of several counties and an associate judge of the Commercial Court of Debrecen.

In 1847, during the 1848-1849 Revolution, Daxner outlined a program unifying the requests for national, cultural, political and social liberties. He was sentenced to death by Hungarian authorities in 1848, but was freed by the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army and became a captain of Slovak volunteer campaigns during the 1848-1849 revolution. His German surnames and German blood ancestors became the most significant consideration by the Austrian Imperial to help him.