Abstract

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the most important among the representatives of Slovak national life, concentrated in the town Martin, was S. H. Vajanský. In his nation-defensive conception he hold to the idea of a homogeneous, monolithic, Christian nation. His preference was in a rather schematic popularism, he introduced into the national consciousness the ideas of messianism, panslavism, and uncritical Russophilism, which at the turn of the centuries had a regressive effect. As an acknowledged authority he stood up against the modernization trends and progressive ideas, especially against the prowestern orientation. Despite these considerable limitations of his conception, seen from the historical perspective, he played an important role in the the process of emancipation of Slovak nation