Jozef Madzo
<p>Jozef Madzo was born in Košice, eastern Slovakia, in 1976. He says that he had a ‘really nice childhood’ and enjoyed spending weekends with his family at their cabin in Slanec, a small town outside of Košice. Jozef was active in a karate club and computer programming club, and showed an affinity for science from a young age. He was in eighth grade at the time of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 which he says resulted in numerous name changes for the schools he attended. After graduating from<em>gymnázium</em>, Jozef studied biology at Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika [Pavol Jozef Šafárik University] in Košice. Summers he spent working in construction. He recalls one particularly fun summer during which he worked in the Czech Republic picking hops.</p><p> </p><p>In 1999, Jozef enrolled in a molecular biology doctoral program at Charles University in Prague and his research focused on childhood leukemia. During this time he attended several conferences in the United States; his first trip was in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Through contacts he made at conferences, Jozef applied for and was given a research position at the University of Illinois at Chicago. One year later, he transferred to his current position at the University of Chicago. Jozef says that he has two homes, one in Chicago and one in Slovakia, but that he finds it easy imagining his future in the United States.</p>
National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
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Marek Soltis
<p> </p><p>Marek Soltis was born in Prešov in eastern Slovakia in 1969. He grew up with his parents, Ondrej and Maria, and his younger brother and sister. Marek and his family lived with his maternal grandparents in Rokycany for several years while his parents were building a house. Marek says that he dreamed of being a musician from an early age, and he learned to play the accordion and the guitar. Beginning in early high school, Marek joined a band which played gigs around the city. He attended a technical high school and then studied physics at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Prešov with the intention of becoming a university professor. Marek was a university student when the Velvet Revolution occurred in November 1989. He says that students at his school were particularly active during this time, and he distributed newspapers and traveled to factories. Marek calls this time ‘indescribable.’ After graduating, he began playing music professionally and played in a theatre orchestra.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 1996, Marek traveled to the United States to visit a friend. He says that corruption in the newly-democratic Slovakia combined with professional opportunities in the United States led to his decision to stay permanently. He settled in the New York City area and, although he says his first months were difficult, he quickly became involved in the music and Slovak communities. Marek took classes at Hunter College and joined a band. Today, Marek owns a music and entertainment company which, among other things, helps to bring Slovak music to the United States. He is also the sound engineer at the Bohemian National Hall in Manhattan. Marek and his wife, also a Slovak émigré, have a young daughter and son to whom they speak Slovak. Today he lives with his family in Greenwich, Connecticut.</p><p> </p>
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