Professor of literature and diplomat, and since 1961 an employee of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He was the last ambassador of Czechoslovakia in Hungary (1990-1992), Slovak minister of culture (2002-2005) and deputy prime minister in Iveta Radičova’s government (2010-2012). His publications include Moje slovenské pochybnosti (2004), Romantizmus v globalizme. Malé národy – veľké mýty (2009), and Slovenský komplex (2010).