Juraj Jánošík

✶January 25, 1688

†March 17, 1713

2 candles burning, 18 lit in all

About their life

Juraj Jánošík was a Slovak highwayman. Jánošík has been the main character of many Slovak novels, poems, and films. According to the legend, he robbed nobles and gave the loot to the poor, a deed often attributed to the famous Robin Hood. The legend is known in neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Slovakia. The actual robber had little to do with the modern legend, whose content partly reflects the ubiquitous folk myths of a hero taking from the rich and giving to the poor. However, the legend was also shaped in important ways by the activists and writers in the 19th century when Jánošík became the key highwayman character in stories that spread in the north counties of the Kingdom of Hungary and among the local Gorals inhabitants of the Podhale region north of the Tatra Mountains.

Slovak outlaw

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Biography from the article Juraj Jánošík on the English Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.