Martin Rázus Memorial

Martin Rázus Memorial is dedicated to the important Slovak writer, journalist, politician, and parish priest Martin Rázus (1888 Liptovský St. Mikuláš - 1937 Brezno). The part of the Danube embankment on which the memorial is located (Rázusovo nábrežie, Bratislava) is named after this author.As a politician, he was a national wing representative, promoting Slovakia's autonomy. He became a prominent personality of the Slovak National Party (SNS). The party's program tried to focus on the social and economic problems of Slovakia or the promotion of Slovakia's national and political subjectivity. From 1929 until his death, he was the chairman of the SNS. Thanks to him, the SNS won its first mandate in the Chamber of Deputies of the National Assembly in 1929 (after an agreement with the Czechoslovak National Democracy). He was a member of the parliament until 1937. Under his leadership, the SNS and the HSĽS merged, which in 1932 created an autonomist block promoting the legislative autonomy of Slovakia.The monument is dominated by a tall granite pillar made up of 13 plates, 11 of which depict various locations where Rázus lived, studied, or worked. One of these locations is Edinburgh, Scotland, where Rázus studied thanks to a scholarship from the Scottish Church as well as the assistance of Robert William Seton Watson, a devoted supporter of Slovaks and Slovakia.