Sládkovic, Andrej

(pen name of Ondrej Braxatorís). Born Mar. 30, 1820, in Krupina; died Apr. 20, 1872, at Radvaň, near the city of Banská Bystrica. Slovak poet.

Sládkovič at one time was a priest. He was one of the first to write in the new Slovak literary language in the early 1840’s. His most important works are the romantic narrative poems Marína (1846) and Detvan (1853). Sládkovič also wrote historical narrative poems about the struggle of the Slavic peoples agianst the Turks and patriotic lyrical poems, for example, “Do Not Humiliate My People!” (1845) and “Let Us Sing A Song About Our Free Motherland!” (1848). Sládkovič had great esteem for A. S. Pushkin, as revealed in his poem “To the Spirit of Pushkin” (1847).