Štefan Marko Daxner
Štefan Marko Daxner, tóth-zabari Daxner István Márk was an ethnic Slovak lower nobleman, politician, lawyer, and poet in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was a member of what became known as 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.Biography
He studied at the Lutheran Lyceum of Pressburg 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, just before 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.
He was a co-author of the Slovak Requests of Liptovský Mikuláš, Requests of the Slovak Nation, Memorandum of the Slovak Nation in 1861, and was one of the founders of the Matica slovenská in 1863. He was also a founder of the first Slovak Gymnasium in Revúca in 1862.
He is buried at the National Cemetery in Martin.
