Pavol Dobšinský (16 March 1828 – 22 October 1885) was a Slovak collector of folklore and writer belonging to the period of Romanticism and the Štúr generation.

He followed this up with Prostonárodnie obyčaje, povery a hry slovenské (Simple National Slovak Customs, Superstitions, and Plays) in 1880, just five years before his death.

In that same year, he also started publishing a series of volumes at his own expense of a more complete and larger collection of Slovak folktales, Prostonárodnie slovenské povesti (Simple National Slovak Tales).

As most of the folk and fairy tales were originally intended for an adult audience, Dobšinský had to edit out much brutality, eroticism and juicy humor, thus making them suitable for children and simultaneously helping them to be more popular.

These works are still considered to be essential and representative collections of Slovak folklore, while they have been rewritten a number of times, too, and they have also been published in more than twenty-one countries.