Origins & Early Life

Adam František Kollár de Keresztén (German: Adam Franz Kollar von Keresztén, Hungarian: kereszténi Kollár Ádám Ferenc; 1718–1783) was a Slovak jurist, Imperial-Royal Court Councillor and Chief Imperial-Royal Librarian, a member of Natio Hungarica in the Kingdom of Hungary, a historian, ethnologist, an influential advocate of Empress Maria Theresa's Enlightened and centralist policies. His advancement of Maria Theresa's status in the Kingdom of Hungary as its apostolic ruler in 1772 was used as an argument in support of the subsequent Habsburg annexations of Galicia and Dalmatia. Kollár is also credited with coining the term ethnology and providing its first definition in 1783. Some authors see him as one of the earliest pro-Slovak, pro-Slavic, and pan-Slavic activists in the Habsburg monarchy.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Kollár was born to the family of a lower nobleman probably during the week before the recorded date of his baptism on Sunday, 17 April 1718, in Terchová, now in Slovakia, then Tyerhova in the Kingdom of Hungary. Sources often give the date of his baptism as his birth date. Some earlier sources give the day of his birth as 15 April, and the oldest Austrian biographies had...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

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