FURDEK, STEFAN. - Catholic priest, b. 2 Sept. 1855 at Trstená na Orave (Slovakia), d. 18 Jan. 1915 at Cleveland (Ohio). Having gone to America in 1882, he was among the first Slovak priests to exercise their apostolate there in the New World. He became curate at Cleveland and organized the Slovak parish of that city.
In 1890 he founded a Slovak Catholic Federation (Prud slovenská katolicka fednota), a national organization with a Catholic religious orientation, especially aimed at social and cultural assistance. In 1891 he published the periodical Fednota for emigrants. He distinguished himself as a popular religious writer in his work to safeguard newly emigrated workers, as well as for his strong patriotic sentiments.
Bibl.: F. Oswald, S. F., in Towarzystwa, 3 (1900), pp. 289-292; K. Cülen, Dejiny Slovacko u Amerike (History of the Slovaks in America), 2 vols., Bratislava 1942, passim.