Jozef Murgaš Commemorative Plaque

unidentified / 2006

Jozef Murgaš (1864–1929), a Roman Catholic priest who lived in the United States from 1896, was an amateur pioneer of wireless telegraphy. He is the first person in history known to have broadcast the spoken word over the radio, and thereby earned his place in the annals of science and technology as the inventor of the radio.  

In 2006, the Jozef Murgaš Supporters' Club with support from Slovaks in the U.S. (as indicated by an inscription at the base of the plaque) had a commemorative plaque installed on the building of the Main Post Office. Cast in bronze, it is rectangular with a flattened arch at its apex. In the upper left is a church tower referencing Murgaš’s original profession, together with the inscription TAJOV * 1864 (the scientist’s place and date of birth). On the right are telegraph poles, beneath which are listed the place and year of Murgaš's death: _WILKES-BARE, PA, USA † 1929. _Between the inscriptions is a relief portrait of the scientist clothed as a Catholic priest. The lower section is inscribed with text: below the relief is the name JOZEF MURGAŠ, and at the bottom is the tribute 

VYNÁLEZCA V RÁDIOTELEGRAFII, VEDEC, KŇAZ, MALIAR, NÁRODOVEC 

INVENTOR IN RADIOTELEGRAPHY, SCIENTIST, PRIEST, ARTIST, SLOVAK PATRIOT.

ZZ

Research status as of 11. 06. 2024.


Authorship


Years

  • 2006 – implementation

Type

Material

bronze

Technique

casting, patinating

Dimensions

90 x 70 x 6 cm

Inscription

unidentified

Condition

  • preserved, maintained

Registration

  • Located in Monument Zone Central Urban Area, Bratislava.
  • National Cultural Monument number 718/1 in the Central List of Monuments of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic.

Owner

  • Slovak Post

Administrator

  • unidentified

Address

34 SNP Square

Location details

on the façade of the Main Post Office at the corner of 35 SNP Square and Uršulínska Street

Plot number

37

GPS

48.1455080, 17.1092200

Other works in the area

Commemorative Plaque to the Composer Franz Schmidt

Alexander Vika 1965

Slovak National Uprising Memorial

Ján Kulich 1974

Commemorative Plaque with a Relief of Vladimír Clementis

Valér Vavro 1965

Construction

František Draškovič 1950