J. B. Magin

* 06.01.1681 Vrbové
† 27.03.1735 Dubnica nad Váhom

- Catholic priest, poem writer, author of the first official written national defence of Slovaks
After his ordination he was a parson in Jarok, Košeca, Trenčín´s monastery and Dubnica nad Váhom. Since 1731, he was a titular canon for the Diocese of Nitra. Magin was an excellent scholar of cannon and common law as well as antique literature and education. He wrote a couple of significant odes, but his most remarkable literary work is the first, national defence of Slovaks written in Latin Murices…sive Apologia, or Ostne alebo Obrana slávnej Trenčianskej stolice a mesta (1728, Púchov).
It came out as a response to the document of Michal Bencsik, the professor of history on the University of Trnava, Novossima Dialeta, in which he claimed that Slovaks are the descendants of Svatopluk people defeated by Hungarians and that is why they cannot be considered equal to them.  
In his Apologia, J.B. Magin proved antiquity and authenticity of Slovaks in Kingdom of Hungary, emphasized the inheritance of Saint Cyril and Method, by which he established the basis for the national self-realization process and battle. Magin signified that Slovaks must be equalled to Hungarians. In addition, he was the first who pointed out that Slovaks are ethnically compact nation, demarked its area and borders and emphasized the individuality of Slovaks. His apologia is considered as a remarkable document with regard to the process of formation of the national confidence. The work is also the oldest political, national and cultural defence of Slovaks in Kingdom of Hungary.