Anton Bernolák


Anton Bernolák – 15 January 1813 in Nové Zámky was a Slovak linguist and Catholic priest, and the author of the first Slovak language standard.

Life

He was born as the second child to a lower noble family in Orava. He studied at a grammar school in Ružomberok 1774-78, and later in Trnava and Vienna, and graduated in theology at the general seminary in Pressburg in 1787. In the very same year, he codified the first Slovak language standard, which he based on western Slovak dialects spoken around Trnava, with some elements from the central dialects. The language, called bernolákovčina, wasn't accepted as a national standard language, although it was a milestone on the way to the formation of the modern Slovak nation. From 1787 to 1791, he was a curate in Čeklís.
His language was the basis for the activities of the Slovenské učené tovarišstvo, established in 1787 in Trnava, and also for the movement of Bernolák's followers, which lasted three generations. Exhaustive literary and priestly work, concern about his close family and other circumstances undermined his health to such an extent that he died unexpectedly of a heart attack on January 15, 1813.

Works