Anton Bernolák was a prominent representative of the Slovak National Revival at the turn of the 18th and the 19th centuries. He was a Roman Catholic priest, a linguist and an initiator of cultural and social life in Slovakia. The whole generation representing the personalities of Slovak national significance that accepted the Slovak language codified by Bernolák and the idea of Slovak national individuality is named after him. He was born on 3 October 1762 in a family of landed gentry in Slanica (nowadays a non-existent village in the Orava region). After his studies at secondary grammar school in Ružomberok he studied theology in several different places. In 1787, he finished his theological studies at The General Seminary (in Bratislava), which was founded by Joseph II in order to educate patriotic and enlightened priests here. He was a supporter of Theresian and Josephian reforms which he actively upheld as well. Another step of this activity was also his codification of the Slovak literary language based on the Western Slovak dialects when he published his Filozoficko-kritická rozprava o slovenských písmenách (Philosophical Critical Discourse on Slovak Letters) in 1787, Slovenská gramatika (Slovak Grammar) in 1790 and Etymológia slovenských slov (Etymology of Slovak Words) in 1791. In 1792, he organized and also made a contribution to the foundation of Slovenské učené tovarišstvo (the Slovak Educational Craftsmanship), which was the first national cultural and scholastic organization. But his greatest one and in many respects still unequalled work is Slowár Slovenskí, Česko-Latinsko-Nemecko-Uherskí (Slovak, Czech-Latin-German-Hungarian Dictionary) published in 5 volumes after his death in 1825 – 1827. Anton Bernolák’s first codification of the Slovak literary language was accepted only in the spheres of the Catholic intellectuals and his standard did not become the national language.  Nevertheless, some of the important educational and literary works that significantly enriched Slovak culture were written in bernolákovčina (Bernolák’s language). After 1797 he served as a priest in Nové Zámky where he died, too, on 15 January 1813.
The stamp attached to miniature sheet depicts the portrait of A. Bernolák with an open book as a symbol of a new beginning of the Slovak language after its codification. The miniature sheet presents also the most significant A. Bernolák’s works and places related to his life (his birthplace, the General Seminary in Bratislava, the parsonage in Nové Zámky, etc). The FDC depicts his birthplace.
                           
Anton Hrnko