Fenomén mena Hurban v slovenskom diskurze 19. storočia
The Phenomenon of the Surname Hurban in the Slovak Discourse of the 19th Century

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present the story of the name of one of the most important representatives of the Slovak nation. Jozef Miloslav Hurban, one of the leaders of the national movement, was active in the national emancipation process for more than half a century. The article analyses the emergence of this surname among the elites of Slovak society. It introduces him as a publicist and a village priest who became the main protagonist of the political and military struggles for the rights of oppressed nation. It shows what it meant to lead Slovak volunteer soldiers in the revolution of 1848/1849, who even got their name after their commander – „hurbanisti“. It talks about how a strong cult of Hurban was created in contemporary journalism, mainly in the 60s of the 19th century. We can find it in celebration poems, public greetings and glorifications especially by younger authors. Public criticism from the Slovak environment, which was levelled at to him for his historiographic or church-organizational activity, contributes to the balance of this picture. He was especially criticized for his positive attitude towards the acceptance of the so-called Protestant patent, by which Emperor Francis Joseph supported the rights of the non-Hungarian part of the Evangelical Church in Hungary. For religious disputes were in fact political and ethnic tensions. Although Hurban became a superintendent – Evangelical bishop – for a year thanks to the reform, these conflicts brought more troubles and public defamation. The article presents a plethora of Hruban’s critics and how they publicly portrayed him as an enemy.

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