Štefan Moyses

Štefan Moyses
Portrait by Jozef Božetech Klemens
Born	(1797-10-24)October 24, 1797 Veselé (Veszele), Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia)
Died	July 5, 1869(1869-07-05) (aged 71) Žiar nad Hronom (Garamszentkereszt), Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia)
Other names	Štefan Moyzes, Moyzes István

PhDr. Štefan Moyses (other name Štefan Moyzes or in Hungarian Moyzes István) (October 24, 1797 in Veselé (Veszele) – July 5, 1869 in Žiar nad Hronom (Garamszentkereszt)) was a Slovak bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica, teacher, patriot, co-founder and first chairman of Matica slovenská.

Memorial in Veselé

Biography

Štefan Moyses was ordained a priest in 1821. He served as chaplain in several parishes of the archdiocese of Esztergom, later worked in Croatia. In January 1830 he became professor of Zagreb Academy. In 1847 he was appointed a canon of Zagreb chapter and was elected member of Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was supporter of Ľudovít Štúr proposals put forward by the Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1848, the re-introduction of mother tongue in primary education and in worship. In 1850 he was appointed bishop of Banská Bystrica (Besztercebánya). He was the head of the Slovak delegation that came on December 12, 1861 to the Emperor Franz Joseph I and submitted Memorandum národa slovenského (Memorandum of the Slovak nation) and Prosbopis Slovákov. On August 3, 1863 he became first chairman of Matica slovenská. He get permission from Holy See to celebrate July 5 as the day of Cyril and Methodius.