From the history of the Institute
The beginnings of higher education in history in Prešov date back to 1952, when a branch of the Faculty of Education of the Slovak University moved here from Košice: in 1953 it was closed down and the Higher Pedagogical School in Prešov and then the Faculty of Philology were established on its basis. Historians had a firm place in these departments from the beginning. Already in 1952, the Institute of History was created here, which was part of the Department of Social Sciences until 1959. Its first head was Vasil Grivna (1952 – 1959). Beside him, in the 1950s, Tamara Bajcurová (since 1955), Pavol Hapák, J. Hlinka (1952 – 1956), Ladislav Tajták (since 1955), Olga Wiedermannová (since 1955) and Michal Mindoš (since 1957) were also active at the Institute.
In 1959, the Faculty of Arts of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (UPJŠ) was established in Prešov, which together with the Faculty of Medicine of the UPJŠ in Košice became the founding faculty of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University with its seat in Košice. In addition to the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ, however, Prešov was also home to the Pedagogical Institute, which in 1964 became the Faculty of Education of the UPJŠ in Prešov. The development of the historical higher education institution in Prešov was also connected with these higher education institutions. After the establishment of the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ, the Institute of History changed into the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ in 1961, which from the beginning had its firm place in the structure of the Faculty of Arts. Vasil Grivna remained at the head of the Department until 1968. From 1968 to 1978 Ladislav Tajták was the head of the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ. The members of the department in the 1960 – 1970s included: Ferdinand Uličný (1962 – 1971), Andrej Kováč (since 1962), Gejza Kočiš (since 1962), Michal Popovič (1963 – 1973), Milan Urban (1968 – 1980), Miloslava Bodnárová (since 1973), Tamara Bajcurová, Vasil Grivna, Ladislav Tajták.
In parallel with the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ, there was also a second university historical workplace in Prešov. The teaching of history also began at the Pedagogical Institute (since 1959). Michal Mindoš, O. Wiedermannová and Michal Danilák (since 1960) were among the staff of this institute in its early days. After the foundation of the Faculty of Education (in 1964) the Department of History was established, first headed by Andrej Adam (1964 – 1967) and in 1967 – 1978 by Michal Danilák. Members of this department in the 1970s included: Juraj Briškár, Michal Mindoš, Oľga Wiedermannová, Angelina Uramová (since 1962), Vasil Franko (since 1963). During this period, there were two departments of history in Prešov, which prepared history teachers for secondary schools (at the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ) and for primary schools (at the Faculty of Education of the UPJŠ).
A milestone in the development of both departments was the year 1978, when they were merged into the Department of History at the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ. Michal Danilák (1978 – 1981) became the head of the newly created department. In the following years, the department was headed by: Tamara Bajcurová (1982 – 1987), Michal Danilák (1987 – 1990), Michal Otčenáš (1990 – 1997), Ferdinand Uličný (1997 – 1998). The composition of the department was gradually changed and supplemented by new staff. At the time of the unification of the departments, the staff of the united Department of History consisted of: Vasil Grivna (until 1982), Tamara Bajcurová (until 1991), Andrej Kováč, Gejza Kočiš, Miloslava Bodnárová, Michal Danilák, Olga Wiedermannová (until 1988), Angelina Uramová, Michal Mindoš (until 1987), Ladislav Tajták (until 1986), Vasil Franko (until 1991). In the 1980s – 1990s the following people started working at the Prešov Department of History: Michal Otčenáš (since 1980), Peter Švorc (since 1983), Ľubica Harbuľová (since 1985), Marián Vizdal (since 1987), Darina Vasiľová (since 1987), Peter Kónya (since 1990), Libuša Franková (since 1990), Ján Mojdis (since 1990), Ferdinand Uličný (since 1990), Ferdinand Uličný Jr. (since 1991).
The 1990s represent an important milestone in the development of the university history department for several reasons. In 1990, the Department of History was re-established at the Faculty of Education (later the Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences), whose origins are linked to the names of Zdenka Malagová, Ladislav Tajták, Ladislav Olexa, Imrich Michnovič, Michal Rusinko and Nadežda Jurčišinová. Later on, Mária Kračúnová, Viera Hudečková, Martin Pekár, Patrik Derfiňák, Imrich Belejkanič joined the staff of the department. The heads of the department were: Zdenka Malagová (1990 – 1999), Viera Hudečková (1999 – 2002) and Imrich Belejkanič (2002 – 2005).
The Department of History of the Faculty of Arts of the UPJŠ expanded its offer for applicants and opened in 1990 the study of a new field of archival studies. In connection with this, it also changed its name to the Department of History and Archival Studies. Another organisational change, which the Department at the Faculty of Arts undertook, was the division of the department into two separate departments - the Department of Slovak History and Archival Studies and the Department of General History. This organisational change took place on 1st September 1998. The newly created Department of Slovak History and Archival Studies was headed by Ferdinand Uličný (1998 – 2003) and Peter Švorc (2003 – 2005). The department's staff consisted of: Peter Švorc, Michal Otčenáš, Darina Vasiľová, Libuša Franková, Ferdinand Uličný, Ferdinand Uličný Jr., Martin Lipka, Marek Havrila. Michal Danilák (1998 – 2003) and Ján Mojdis (2003 – 2005) headed the Department of General History. The composition of the department was as follows: Michal Danilák, Marián Vizdal, Peter Kónya, Ján Mojdis, Ľubica Harbuľová.
The last milestone in the history of the department was the year 2005, when on the basis of the change in the organisational structure of the Faculty of Arts of UP, all three historical departments at the University of Presov were merged: the Department of History of the Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences of UP, the Department of Slovak History and Archival Studies of Faculty of Arts of UP and the Department of General History of UP into the newly established Institute of History of the Faculty of Arts of UP. Ján Mojdis (2005 – 2009) became the director of the Institute of History.