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.

In this context, the word matica is translated as queen bee or queen ant.

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


 * Matica srpska, formed in the Austrian Empire in 1826
 * Matice česká, formed in the Austrian Empire in 1831
 * Matice moravská, formed in the Austrian Empire in 1849
 * Matice slezská, formed in Austria-Hungary in 1877
 * Matica hrvatska, formed in the Austrian Empire in 1842
 * Maćica Serbska, formed in Kingdom of Saxony in 1847
 * Matytsia Halytsko-Ruska, formed in the Austrian Empire in 1848
 * Matica slovenská, formed in the Austrian Empire in 1863
 * Slovenska matica, formed in the Austrian Empire in 1864
 * Macierz Polska, formed in Austria-Hungary in 1882
 * Balgarska matitsa, formed in the Ottoman Empire in 1909
 * Matica crnogorska, formed in Serbia and 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