Hont County
He was born to a family of tailors in Hnúšťa, Kingdom of Hungary (present day Slovakia). From 1834 to 1839, he studied at the "Evangelical Lyceum" in Levoča, then went to Pressburg, where he first met Štúr. In 1843, he passed the candidate's exam in theology and continued his studies at the law college in Prešov. He worked briefly as a deputy professor at the Lyceum, then became an aide to a member of the Gömör és Kis-Hont County Council.