Background
His father"s name was Mihály Szlámár.
His father"s name was Mihály Szlámár.
His original surname was Szlámár (Slamar). However, in the historical Wendic March (the modern Prekmurje and Vendvidék) the Slovene names of the population were frequently altered, insofar as they were registered by the Hungarian authorities, which in many times misspelled them. Szelmár was born in Graduate (Felsőlendva), and was consecrated on 20 July 1845, in Szombathely.
Between 1845-1846 he served as chaplain in Črenšovci, and between 1856-1860 in Turniščest
In 1860 he became priest in Kančevci, and in the end of 1876 he was retired. He died in Ivanovci. He wrote books in the Prekmurian dialect of the Slovene language, and was thus an influential representative of the local Slovene literature in the Kingdom of Hungary.
In 1873 he translated the Hungarian book by Alajos Róder Bibliai Történetek (History of the Bible). The Slovenian translation bears the name Zgodbe Sztaroga i Nóvoga Zákona (Stories of the Old and New Testament).