Today I came to realize that nobody is born stupid. Nobody. I don't want to hear - '...because he's not good enough for that...' Obviously the environment plays an essential role. However the biggest mistake or the the biggest help the children will receive comes from their parents. If parents want their children to achieve an education, if they don't want them to only hang around, smoke, take drugs, commit crimes, then they have to watch them.
I applied for studying at what was then called Secondary Comprehensive School, a predecessor of present day gymnasiums. I earned respect in my family for completing the secondary education as I was the first one in family to do so. But the journey didn't stop there. My parents wanted me to achieve the highest education, to get to a university. So I went on to study at UPJŠ FF in Prešov – Department of Pedagogy and Education of Adults. I also completed this education successfully.
We were facing a lot of problems everywhere. What we found as surprising was receiving negative response from those who we wanted to help (fellow Romas). The say was what do we want to do with them...etc. Clearly we focused on education as well. We knew it was the key aspect preventing the Roma community from further development.
He was a musician all his life. He played cymbalo. Since he was 15 he played in a gypsy band. 'U Pavloviča' was a well-known pub where he used to play. This way he was helping his parents as well.
Born on 20th December 1946 in Ústí nad Labem. He completed his 9 elementary school in Prešov where he spent all his life. In 1962 he continued at Secondary Comprehensive School (predecessor of gymnasiums) on Taras Ševčenko street in Prešov. In 1965 he received high school-leaving diploma. In the same year he started to work in personnel department of OZKN (Capt. Ján Nálepka Textile Company) in Prešov. It was one of the largest employers in East Slovakia at that time. M. Eštočák was the first and the only Roma employee in the administration of the company. His focus was on providing additional education to laborers at operational level but primarily to office clerks.
In 1973 he started to study Pedagogy and Education of Adults at Philosophical faculty at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Prešov (UPJŠ FF). He graduated in 1978. Later in 1986 he passed a viva exam receiving M.Phil degree.
After 1989 revolution OZKN was restructured and Maximilián Eštočák went on to work in social section at Office of Prešov District where he stayed employed until his retirement in 2015. He addressed social/legal defense of children and social guardianship mostly in Roma communities.
Righ after The Velvet Revolution he joined public life in Prešov and together with his colleagues and friends he founded Prešov branch of Democratic Union of Romas in Slovakia. The union was mostly addressing social work issues and education.
He was active in academic environment as well, as an external lecturer at St. Elisabeth’s Medical and Social Work School in Prešov and Košice. He ended his employment with the school in 2017.
He is married to his second wife and has two children from his first marriage.
