Minister Naď presents memorial medal to Michal Spevák for his life-long role in preserving and building Slovak community in Serbia

At the Slovak Embassy in Belgrade today, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď presented the SVK Minister of Defence Memorial Medal (3rd Grade) to Michal Spevák Sr., a Slovak lawyer and activist for cultural and national causes in Serbia, for his life-long role in preserving and building Slovak traditions and customs in Serbia.

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “The Spevák family, whether it be him, his predecessors, or descendants, have never forgotten about their origin and have carried it proudly in their hearts for the past ten generations. Mr Michal Spevák has done a lot for Slovak people living in Serbia – he is behind several milestones in the Slovak community in Vojvodina, for example, he re-established Matica Slovenká and reintroduced Slovak national festivities in the former Yugoslavia. Therefore, it is a great honour for me to thank him in person for his long-term work to the benefit of our fellow countrymen living far away from Slovakia."

Michal Spevák Sr. was born in 1947 in Serbia's Báčsky Petrovec, where he attended primary school, grammar school before reading law at the Faculty of Law in Novy Sad. In 1990, he was elected chair of the Commission on Re-establishment of Matica Slovenská, a Slovak cultural institution, in Yugoslavia (today's Serbia). Matica Slovenská was re-established at the 1990 General Assembly meeting, convened by the Commission and attended by 600 Slovaks, in Báčsky Petrovec.