Soňa Szomolányi

Soňa Szomolányi is a sociologist, political scientist and university teacher. She is one of the figures who actively took part in the democratic changes in Slovakia after 1989. Through her scholarly, teaching and civic work she has long contributed to the development of democracy and the strengthening of civil society.

She was born on 5 December 1946 in Poprad. She studied sociology at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava, where she also began her professional career.

In September 1989 she was one of the signatories of an open letter from Slovak sociologists to President Gustáv Husák. The letter responded to the detention of members of the so-called Bratislava Five, who had wanted to publicly commemorate the victims of the occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The signatories protested against the conduct of the state authorities, criticised the political conditions of the time and called for open dialogue.

Soňa Szomolányi also took an active part in the events of the Velvet Revolution in November 1989. She signed the declaration of rank-and-file communists who, on 21 November 1989, condemned the repression, supported the demands of the civic movement Public Against Violence (VPN) and called for the abolition of the leading role of the Communist Party. Later she helped shape the ideological profile of VPN.

Despite her civic engagement, she decided not to pursue a career in professional politics and continued her scholarly and academic work. She did not, however, withdraw into her study. Through her academic and scientific insights she helped shape the positions of Slovak governments, especially after 1998.

She worked at Comenius University and at the Institute for Sociology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In 1994 she obtained her habilitation in political science and later became a full professor. For ten years she headed the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University.

In her professional career she has focused above all on researching Slovakia’s democratic transformation, processes of democratisation, the functioning of democratic institutions and the role of civil society. She has presented her expertise at many foreign universities and international academic events.

She is the author and co-author of numerous academic studies and publications. Her major works include Kľukatá cesta Slovenska k demokracii (Slovakia’s Winding Road to Democracy) and Španielsko a Slovensko – dve cesty k demokracii (Spain and Slovakia – Two Paths to Democracy).

For her outstanding merits in the development of democracy, the protection of human rights and freedoms and the development of the social sciences, the President of the Slovak Republic Andrej Kiska awarded her the Order of Ľudovít Štúr, 2nd Class, in 2016.

She continues to take part in public debate, and her expert analyses contribute to reflection on political and social developments in Slovakia. A book of interviews with Soňa Szomolányi entitled Myslieť krajinu (Thinking the Country) is being published right now.

The 2026 Anton Srholec Freedom Award is conferred on Soňa Szomolányi for her merits in the development of democracy, her civic engagement in the struggle for democratic change and her particular contribution to research on Slovakia’s democratic transformation.