Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková

The first lady of Slovak painting and the only Slovak artist trained directly in the School of Paris. Born in Bratislava, she passed through Gustáv Mallý's school and after her school-leaving exams studied in Paris at the Académie Julian and in the private school of Alexandra Exter; as early as 1931 she held a solo exhibition in Prague and became a member of the Umělecká beseda. After the war she chaired the Bloc of Slovak Artists.

Her first husband, the physician František Šimer, was executed for helping the parachutists after the assassination of Heydrich; in 1947 she married the lawyer and later photographer Martin Martinček, with whom she was forcibly moved from Bratislava to Liptov in 1952, where she lived until her death. Her Cubist-informed still lifes and chess compositions brought her the Martin Benka Prize (1992), the French Order of Arts and Letters (2001) and the Order of Ľudovít Štúr, 1st class (2002).