What is "matica"

A Matica or Matice or Matitsa is a Slavic concept of a foundation which promotes national culture and gained prominence during the 19th-century romantic nationalism.

The matica structure has been particularly used among the West Slavic peoples and South Slavic peoples:

:* Matica srpska, formed in Hungary in 1826, moved to current Serbia in 1864

:* Matice česká, formed in Bohemia in 1831

:* Matica hrvatska, formed in Croatia in 1842

:* Matica slovenská, formed in Slovakia in 1863

:* Slovenska matica, formed in Slovenia in 1864

:* Balgarska matitsa, formed in the Ottoman Empire in 1909

:* Matica crnogorska, formed in Montenegro in 1993

The term has additionally been used to refer to:

• Matica hrvatskih sindikata, Association of Croatian Public Sector Unions
• The magazine Matica, published by Matica crnogorska