Department of British and American Studies at the - Univerzita ...

As Jozef Olexa told us, during his visit some Slovak writers one day tried to get him drunk,
but early in the following morning, when they were still overwhelmed with sleep and
exhaustion, Thomas stood up and was eager to continue to have fun somewhere else. It seems
to me that also this ―rumour‖ shows that Jozef Olexa did not take literature and its history as
something boring, as only ―some dust which falls from books lying for many centuries on
shelves hidden in libraries‖. For him, literature was a living and fascinating object.
I hope I have provided my readers with an image of Professor Olexa and his work
which is as complete as was possible within such a short space. The rest can be said by his
work, and his merit can deservedly be expressed by using a quote from Horace‘s ode: he has
―raised a monument more permanent than bronze‖ (Odes, Book III, Ode xxx).
To this short homage we also attach a personal bibliography of Professor Olexa so that
the reader can create their own idea of the lifelong achievements of this rare personality. But
most of all, his years spent at various departments of academic institutions, as well as the
many years of his working as an editor and translator, testify to his having markedly
influenced Slovak culture and the reception of literature written in English, and thus helped to
shape the tastes of demanding readers.
I think I can, and I certainly would like to, in the name of all members of our
Department of British and American Studies, as well as the wider circle of Anglicists and
Americanists in Slovakia, wish him good health and a peaceful autumn of his life. May we for
many more years have the privilege of meeting Professor Olexa as a unique and distinguished
scholar and a most humane personality.
Note:
I would like to express my gratitude to Konńtantín Palkovič for his article Kto je kto? Jozef
Olexa (―Who Is Who? Jozef Olexa‖) in Slovenské národné noviny (Volume 6 (10), No. 52,
1995, p. 5), and also to the Comenius University Archives for enabling to me access to the
materials concerning the habilitation procedure of Professor Olexa, as well as those of his
professorship inauguration in 1992.
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