Alexander Vika (10 May 1933 – 21 April 2025) was a Slovak sculptor and academic. He was known for introducing abstract, modernist approaches to monumental communist-era Czechoslovak sculpture.

Life and career

Alexander Vika was born on 10 May 1933 in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. His childhood was strongly influenced by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. When he was 11 years old, his family moved to the countryside to escape the intensifying bombardment of Bratislava by Allied forces. Nemecka10Slovakia3

Vika trained at the arts academy in Bratislava and studied sculpture at the

Academy of Fine Arts and Design The Academy of Fine Arts and Design (, also known by the acronym ALUO), is an art academy and institution based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.Badín, the "Flame" memorial in

Nemecká Nemecká (; ) is a village and municipality in Brezno District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. The name, which can be translated as "German village", suggests villagers, or part of them, being of German origin. The first wri ...

and the "Three ears of grain" memorial in

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

. The Flame memorial is the highest, measuring 12.5 meters in height. In addition, Vika created a large number of memorials and plaques, located mostly in Bratislava, including the "Youth" statue located in front of the Junior hotel in Bratislava. Nitra_Kovove_klasy

In addition to his artistic production, Vika taught at the

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

(1965–1985), the

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU) () is the biggest and oldest university of technology in Slovakia. In the 2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities it was ranked in the first 150 in Computer Science, the only university in ...

(1986–2002), and since 2002 at the Alexander Dubček University, which awarded him a honorary doctorate in 2001. Vika died in Bratislava on 21 April 2025, at the age of 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vika, Alexander 1933 births 2025 deaths Slovak abstract sculptors 20th-century Slovak sculptors 21st-century Slovak sculptors Artists from Bratislava Academic staff of Comenius University