Živena

The Živena, is the oldest women's rights organization in Slovakia, founded in 1869.

== History == === Early days (1869–1918) === thumb|left|The cover page of the first edition of the Živena magazine The original initiative came from mainly Lutheran nationalist intellectuals connected to Matica slovenská led by Ambro Pietro. These men were worried about the lack of involvement of women in their struggle for Slovak self-determination within Austria-Hungary. As a solution, they published a call for women to organize themselves and participate in the activities of the "national awakening". The call was initially answered by 73 women, who became the founding members of Živena (named after mythical ancient Slavic deity) at its initial meeting on 4 August 1869 in Martin. The initial stated aim of Živena was to educate Slovak women in the areas of household finance, cooking, child raising and culture. After the ban of Matica slovenská by the Hungarian authorities, Živena was the sole remaining Slovak educational organization.