Dr Ján Lajčiak: Life, Work and Legacy
The Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty, Comenius University in Bratislava will host an exhibition entitled "Dr. Ján Lajčiak: Life, Work, and Legacy for Future Generations" on its premises from October 8 to 10, 2025. The exhibition is being held in cooperation with the exhibition's organizing committee, represented by Mgr. Pavol Lajčiak, and in cooperation with the Congregation of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession Bratislava – Legionárska. The event is being held with the organizational support of the research team of the project VEGA 1/0698/23 – " "Lajčiak´s Dissertation about Ezekiel in the Contemporary Research of Prophetic Writings". On Sunday, October 12, 2025, the exhibition will move to the premises of the Lutheran Church on Legionárska Street 4.
Dr. Ján Lajčiak was an outstanding Slovak theologian and Lutheran pastor whose work transcended the boundaries of theology – he was also active in the fields of Semitic philology, Oriental studies, biblical translation, sociology, and the history of Slovak culture. He studied at universities in Germany and France. He earned his doctorates with his works Die Plural- und Dualendungen am semitischen Nomen (1902) at the University of Leipzig and Ézéchiel: Sa Personne et son Enseignement (1905) at the Sorbonne in Paris.
After returning to Slovakia, he worked as an Evangelical pastor in the village of Vyšná Boca in the Low Tatras. Even from this remote location, he maintained a lively connection with the world of science and culture. It was there that he wrote his penetrating and still thought-provoking analysis of Slovak conditions – Slovakia and Culture [Slovensko a kultúra], which was published posthumously in 1920 as the first volume of the Ev. Theol. Library series, thanks to the editorial and publishing work of Professor Samuel Štefan Osuský of this faculty. The introductory biographical study to the first edition, originally presented as a lecture at a gathering of the Hurban Student Association (still active at EBF UK today), was written by Osuský himself and continues to influence the perception of Lajčiak's personality to this day.
The Slovak Evangelical Lutheran A.C. Theological Academy with its Theological Home, the predecessor of today's Evangelical Theological Faculty, became the "heir to his rich, modern, beautiful library of over a thousand volumes" after its establishment in 1919. Dr. Ján Lajčiak (quote by Osuský, Biography and Literary Work of † Dr. Ján Lajčiak, Slovakia and Culture /1920/, pp. 3–4). Selected titles from Lajčiak's library will be part of the exhibition.
Program of the exhibition and accompanying events
- Wednesday, October 8, 2025
- 11:00 a.m. – Academic Worship Service in the faculty auditorium in memory of Dr. Ján Lajčiak.
- 1:00 p.m. – Opening of the exhibition on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth.
- The opening will also feature thematic contributions inspired by selected works from Lajčiak's library.
- October 8–10, 2025
- The exhibition will be open to the public daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the foyer of the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty, Bartókova 8, Bratislava.
- Sunday, October 12, 2025
- The exhibition will move to the Lutheran Church on Legionárska Street 4.
- 6:00 p.m. – Festive Concert on the occasion of the exhibition (vocals: Anhelina Boichenko, organ: Marta Gáborová, Konzervatórium Žilina).
- The exhibition will be open to the public on Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and then from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. We kindly ask those interested to respect the course of the church services, which take place in the Lutheran Church on Legionárska Street on Sunday morning from 8:30 a.m. and from 10:00 a.m.