The Slovak writer, translator, teacher, bank clerk, politician and columnist Jozef Gregor Tajovský, was born as Jozef Alojz Gregor in the small village of Tajov near Banská Bystrica on 18th October 1874. He was the eldest of ten children to the master craftsman, bootmaker and, for a certain period of time, reeve of Tajov, Alojz Gregor and Anna Gregorová, née Grešková. He spent his childhood years in his native home, which however was not owned by his parents. It was the house of Štafan Greško and Zuzana Grešková, née Murgašová, his grandparents on his mother’s side. His primary education came from the teacher Karol Berger (he also taught another famous native of Tajov, Jozef Murgaš) in Tajov and later in Baská Bystrica. He continued his studies at the teacher training institute in Kláštor pod Znievom (1889 – 1893). Following his graduation, he worked as a teacher in several places (for example, in Horná Lehota, the birthplace of Samo Chalupka), but his opinions that promoted nationalist interests and the way he taught children often brought him into conflict with the Hungarian authorities and was forced to leave the educational system. Between 1898 and 1900, he studied at the Czechoslovak Business Academy in Prague, where he was active in the Detvan academic association. After his arrival from Prague, he worked as a bank clerk in Trnava (1900), Martin, (1901 – 1904) and the Romanian city of Nădlac (1904 – 1910), and later was the head of the Prešov branch (1910 – 1912).
