Daughter of Slavia, a pioneering work of Czech and Slovak literature of the 19th century, written by Ján Kollár (1793 – 1852), was published in 1824 by the Royal University Printing House in Buda. As one of the first poets of our literary history he was able to enrich the genre using a highly subjective dimension that stemmed from his own experience and was able to intensify the degree of poetic reflection. This laid a solid foundation for our modern poetry. Kollár’s Daughter of Slavia is an innovative poem that combines romantic motifs, inspired by his unrequited love of Friederike Wilhelmina Schmidt, Mina in his poem, with patriotic topics and themes related to the awakening of a nation. His contemplative lyrical reflections, used to declare his love for Mina, along with a gradual realisation that the romance had no future prospects, alternate with extensive transpersonal ideas about the past, present and future of the Slavs. At the same time, Kollár’s poem introduced a new type of lyrical hero – a young man swayed by his desires and emotional motives, full of passion and determination as well as lonely resignation. He created a poem characterised by the power of poetic fantasy, creativity of language and the masterful composition of a sonnet. The poet continually returned to the Daughter of Slavia throughout his life, supplementing and extending it. The first edition from 1824 was followed by extended and supplemented versions from 1832, 1845 and 1852. Daughter of Slavia gradually became an extensive compendium of Slavic patriotism, where the poet intentionally connected multiple ideas from European literature and created a poetic concept that linked the opposites of the ages, along with a concept of art firmly rooted in strict Christian ethics and universal principles of humanity. 

                                                                                                                                        Miloslav Vojtech