Švorc P. Od pluhu do senátorského kresla. Jurko Lažo a jeho doba (1867–1929). Prešov: Universum, 2018. 271 s.

Abstract

The review is dedicated to the recent monograph by the Slovak historian Peter Švorc on Jurij Lažo (1867–1929). The book is a meticulously researched biography of the Rusyn national political activist set against the background of the history of the Carpathian Rusyns, Austria-Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The author pays increased attention to the issues of national and confessional identity of the Rusyn population of the Prešov region and Subcarpathian Rus’. J. Lažo went down in history primarily as a Senator who represented the interests of Rusyn villagers in the Czechoslovak Parliament, and as a fi ghter for the conversion of Greek Catholics to the Orthodox Church. Leger acted as a consistent proponent of the “all-Russian” (all-Eastern Slavic) national-language trend and a critic of the Magyarization and later Slovakization of the Rusyns. All six chapters of the monograph differ in their originality, and are based on documents from various archives in the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, and Austria. Despite the remain- ing gaps in the biography of Jurij Lažo, Peter Švorc’s book is a valuable contribution to the historiography of this topic.