Expert discussion with the creative academic staff of the department.

On April 11, 2016, on the occasion of the 176th anniversary of Rudolf Krupec's birth, the Department of Economics and Economy commemorated his historical merits in the area of economics and activities aimed at gambling prevention in Slovakia. Rudolf Krupec was born on April 10, 1840, in Bystrička and died on November 18, 1913, in Žilina. He studied in Russia, where he received an engineering degree and worked on the construction of Russian railways. In 1882 he returned to Slovakia, settled in Žilina and started to cooperate with the lawyer Ján Milc, with whom he founded Tatra hornouhorská banka (Tatra, Upper Hungarian Bank) in Martin, in 1886. Rudolf Krupec became its first director. Under his management the bank developed and reported successful results, expanded its branch network and increased its participation in establishing industrial companies. Tatra banka worked for people from under the Tatras, it also organized social, cultural and political life in the period when, following the closure of Matica slovenská, national institutions were lacking. Rudolf Krupec was also a member of the Executive Committee of Slovenská národná strana (Slovak National Party). He developed a plan to transform Turčianske kasíno (Turiec casino) into a large social and cultural association for the whole of Slovakia, but it did not come to fruition.