Bohemian literature
Encyclopedia
Bohemian literature is literature
of Bohemia
ns (also known as Czechs, in Bohemian Češi or Čechové) and also literature written in Bohemia in other languages (e.g. Latin
, German
, Greek
, Hebrew
or Russian
).
The Bohemian language is a western-slavonic language. Slovak
and Upper-Sorabia
n languages (national minority in Saxonia
, part of Germany) are quite similar to the Bohemian language and users of those three languages can understand each other without translation.
Bohemia is a short name for Bohemian Crown (or Bohemian Lands) which includes Bohemia proper (in Bohemian Čechy), Moravia
(in B. Morava) and Bohemian part of Silesia
(in B. Slezsko). Today's official English name of Bohemia is the Czech Republic
.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
of Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
ns (also known as Czechs, in Bohemian Češi or Čechové) and also literature written in Bohemia in other languages (e.g. Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
or Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
).
The Bohemian language is a western-slavonic language. Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
and Upper-Sorabia
Sorbian
Sorbian may refer to more than one article:* Sorbs, a Slavic people in modern day Germany* Sorbian languages, a group of closely related West Slavic languages-See also:...
n languages (national minority in Saxonia
Saxonia
Saxonia may refer to:* Saxonia, the Latin name of Saxony* Saxonia , the allegorical representation of Saxony* Saxonia , first locomotive built in Germany in 1838, more than one passenger ship of the Cunard Line...
, part of Germany) are quite similar to the Bohemian language and users of those three languages can understand each other without translation.
Bohemia is a short name for Bohemian Crown (or Bohemian Lands) which includes Bohemia proper (in Bohemian Čechy), Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
(in B. Morava) and Bohemian part of Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
(in B. Slezsko). Today's official English name of Bohemia is the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
.
Middleages (from 9th century to renaissance)
- Christianus monachus
- Cosmas of PragueCosmas of PragueCosmas of Prague was a Bohemian priest, writer and historian born in a noble family in Bohemia. Between 1075 and 1081, he studied in Liège. After his return to Bohemia, he became a priest and married Božetěcha, with whom he probably had a son. In 1086 Cosmas was appointed prebendary of Prague, a...
- Dalimil
- Johannes von Saaz
- Smil Flaska z Pardubic
Renaissance and Barocque writers
- Hynek z Poděbrad
- Mikuláš Dacziczky z Hesslowa
- Jan Amos KomenskýComeniusJohn Amos Comenius ; ; Latinized: Iohannes Amos Comenius) was a Czech teacher, educator, and writer. He served as the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, and became a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica...
- Bohuslav BalbínBohuslav BalbínBohuslav Balbín was a Czech writer and Jesuit, the "Bohemian Pliny," whose Vita beatae Joannis Nepomuceni martyris was published in Prague, 1670,...
- Ondřej de Waldt
Modern Bohemian literature (from 1750 to 1860)
- Josef DobrovskýJosef DobrovskýJosef Dobrovský was a Bohemian philologist and historian, one of the most important figures of the Czech national revival.- Life & Work :...
- Jan Jeník z Bratřic
- Josef Jungmann
- František ČelakovskýFrantišek CelakovskýFrantišek Ladislav Čelakovský, also known by the pseudonym Marcian Hromotluk, was a Czech writer and translator.-Life:...
- Josef Kajetán TylJosef Kajetán TylJosef Kajetán Tyl was a significant Czech dramatist, writer and actor. He was a notable figure of the Czech National Revival movement and is best known as the author of the current national anthem of the Czech Republic titled Kde domov můj.-Life:Josef Kajetán Tyl was the first-born son of Jiří...
- Karel Hynek MáchaKarel Hynek MáchaKarel Hynek Mácha was a Czech romantic poet.- Biography :Mácha grew up in Prague, the son of a foreman at a mill. He learned Latin and German in school...
- František PalackýFrantišek PalackýFrantišek Palacký was a Czech historian and politician.-Biography:...
- Božena NěmcováBožena NemcováBožena Němcová was a Czech writer of the final phase of the Czech National Revival movement.-Biography:...
- Marie Ebnerová z Eschenbachu
Time of various literary styles (from 1860 to 1914)
- Jan NerudaJan NerudaJan Nepomuk Neruda was a Czech journalist, writer and poet, one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of "the May school".-Early life:...
- Karolina SvětláKarolína SvetláKarolina Světlá was a Czech female author of the 19th century. She was a representative to the literary May School. She married Professor Petr Mužák in 1852, who had taught her music. She also had an affair with Jan Neruda. She introduced Eliška Krásnohorská to literature and feminism...
- Jakub ArbesJakub ArbesJakub Arbes was an influential Czech revolutionary, intellectual and writer. He was a sympathizer of the Májovci literary group and creator of the literary genre called romanetto.- Life and Politics :...
- Siegfried KapperSiegfried KapperSiegfried Kapper was the literary pseudonym of Isaac Salomon Kapper , a Bohemian-born Austrian writer of Jewish origin. Born in Smichow, Kapper studied medicine at Prague University, later completing a Ph.D. at the University of Vienna...
- Svatopluk ČechSvatopluk CechSvatopluk Čech was a Czech writer, journalist and poet.Čech studied at gymnasium in Prague, then studied law, and later worked in the journals Květy, Lumír and Světozor.His first poem, Husita na Baltu, was published in the almanac Ruch in 1868...
- Jaroslav VrchlickýJaroslav VrchlickýJaroslav Vrchlický was one of the greatest Czech lyrical poets. He was born Emil Frida, Vrchlický being a pseudonym.He also wrote epic poetry, plays, prose and literary essays and translated widely from various languages, introducing e.g. Dante, Goethe, Shelley, Baudelaire, Poe, and Whitman to...
- Alois JirásekAlois JirásekAlois Jirásek was a Czech writer, author of historical novels and plays. Jirásek was a secondary-school teacher until his retirement in 1909. He wrote a series of historical novels imbued with faith in his nation and in progress toward freedom and justice...
- Zikmund WinterZikmund WinterZikmund Winter was a Czech writer and historian. The author of many historical novels and essays, he maintained an interest in Bohemian life from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries.- Sources :*...
- Karel HlaváčekKarel HlavácekKarel Hlaváček was a Czech Symbolist and Decadent poet and artist.He published his poetic works and art criticisms in the journal Moderní revue . He was also active as an artist, creating works that suggest his anxieties about sex, such as Exile...
- Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic
- František GellnerFrantišek GellnerFrantišek Gellner was a Czech poet, short story writer, artist and anarchist.-Biography:František Gellner was born to a poor Jewish family in Mladá Boleslav, Bohemia. His father was a seller and a keen socialist...
Literature between and in World Wars (from 1914 to 1945)
- Vladislav VančuraVladislav VancuraVladislav Vančura was one of the most important Bohemian writers of the 20th century...
- Bohuslav ReynekBohuslav ReynekBohuslav Reynek was one of the most important Bohemian poets, writers, painters and translators of the 20th century.-Education and personal life:...
- Jakub DemlJakub DemlJakub Deml was a Czech Catholic priest and writer.-Life:Deml was born in Tasov near Třebíč, then Austria-Hungary, now Czech Republic. In 1902 he was ordained Roman Catholic priest, but in 1907-1908 and after 1909 he was pensioned, partly due to conflicts with his superiors. He became one of the...
- Hermann GrabHermann GrabHermann Grab was a Bohemian writer of German language.-Early years:Hermann was born into a wealthy aristocratic family of Jewish origin in Prague, Bohemian Kingdom . Although his parents were formally Jewish, Hermann as his brother were educated as Catholics...
- František HalasFrantišek HalasFrantišek Halas was one of the most significant Czech lyric poets of the 20th century, an essayist, and a translator.- Life :...
- Vladimír HolanVladimír HolanVladimír Holan was a Czech poet famous for employing obscure language, dark topics and pessimist views in his poems. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in the late 1960s. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia....
- Jiří WolkerJirí WolkerJiří Wolker was a Czech poet, journalist and playwright. He was one of the founding members of CPC - Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1921.- Life :...
- Franz WerfelFranz WerfelFranz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
- Karel ČapekKarel CapekKarel Čapek was Czech writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Born in 1890 in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice to an overbearing, emotional mother and a distant yet adored father, Čapek was the youngest of three siblings...
- Josef ČapekJosef CapekJosef Čapek was a Czech artist who was best known as a painter, but who was also noted as a writer and a poet. He invented the word robot, which was introduced into literature by his brother, Karel Čapek.- Biography :...
- Jiří MahenJirí MahenJiří Mahen was a Czech novelist, playwright and essayist.- Life :He was born Antonín Vančura, in Čáslav, to an old noble family of the Moravian Brethren faith. In his grammar-school years he became an anarchist. He later studied linguistics of the Czech and German languages at Prague University...
- Jan ZahradníčekJan ZahradnícekJan Zahradníček was a Czech poet of the early and mid-20th century. Because of his writings and Catholic orientation he was imprisoned as an enemy of Communists after their coup in 1948.From 1919 to 1926 he studied at Classical Grammar School in Třebíč...
- Egon HostovskyEgon HostovskýEgon Hostovský , was a Czech writer. He was related to the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. Hostovský described Zweig as "a very distant relative"; some sources describe them as cousins....
- Ferdinand PeroutkaFerdinand PeroutkaFerdinand Peroutka was a Czech journalist and writer.-Life:Peroutka was born to a Czech-German family in Prague in 1895. In 1913 he began his career as a journalist. After World War I, he became a editor-in-chief of a new newspaper Tribuna...
- Jaroslav SeifertJaroslav SeifertJaroslav Seifert was a Nobel Prize winning Czech writer, poet and journalist.Born in Žižkov, a suburb of Prague in what was then part of Austria-Hungary, his first collection of poems was published in 1921...
- Paul LeppinPaul LeppinPaul Leppin was a 20th century Bohemian writer of German language, who was born and lived in Prague.Although he wrote in German, he was in close contact with Czech literature. He translated Czech books and wrote articles on Czech literature...
- Josef VachalJosef VáchalJosef Váchal was a Czech writer, painter, graphic designer and book-printer.Váchal was the illegitimate son of Josef Aleš-Lyžec and Anna Váchalová - his parents never married...
- Hermann UngarHermann UngarHermann Ungar was a Bohemian writer and an officer in Czechoslovakia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His novels were influenced by expressionism and psychoanalysis...
- Jaroslav HašekJaroslav HašekJaroslav Hašek was a Czech humorist, satirist, writer and socialist anarchist best known for his novel The Good Soldier Švejk, an unfinished collection of farcical incidents about a soldier in World War I and a satire on the ineptitude of authority figures, which has been translated into sixty...
- Jan ČepJan CepJan Čep was a Czech writer and translator.He was born in 1902 in the village of Myslechovice , Moravia to a family of peasants. After completing his studies at the Gymnasium in Litovel, from 1922 to 1926 he studied Czech, English and French linguistics at Prague University...
- Egon Erwin KischEgon Erwin KischEgon Erwin Kisch was a Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. Known as the The raging reporter from Prague, Kisch was noted for his development of literary reportage and his opposition to Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.- Biography :Kisch was born into a wealthy, German-speaking...
- Gustav LeuteltGustav LeuteltGustav Leutelt was an ethnic German poet and writer from the region of Bohemia, which was then part of the Austrian Empire but is now part of the Czech Republic...
Communist era (from 1945/1948 to 1989)
- Jan ZabranaJan ZábranaJan Zábrana was a Czech writer and translator.His parents were teachers and politicians persecuted by the communist regime after the communist revolution of 1948: his mother, member of the regional parliament, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years of prison; his father, mayor of Humpolec before the...
- Bohumil HrabalBohumil HrabalBohumil Hrabal was a Czech writer, regarded as one of the best writers of the 20th century.- Life and work :...
- Josef JedličkaJosef JedlickaJosef Jedlička was a Czech writer.Jedlička studied aesthetics and ethnography at Prague University, but after the communist revolution in 1948 he was kicked out of university for being an anticommunist. He then worked in various professions - as laborer, teacher, TV assistant, and tutor among them...
- Libuše MoníkováLibuše MoníkováLibuše Moníková was a Czech writer, publishing in German language. In 1968, following the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, she left to Western Germany.- References :...
- Milan KunderaMilan KunderaMilan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
- Václav HavelVáclav HavelVáclav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
- Josef ŠkvoreckýJosef ŠkvoreckýJosef Škvorecký, CM is a leading contemporary Czech writer and publisher who has spent much of his life in Canada. He and his wife were long-time supporters of Czech dissident writers before the fall of communism in that country...
- Ludvík VaculíkLudvík VaculíkLudvík Vaculík is a Czech writer and journalist. A prominent samizdat writer, he is most famous as the author of the "Two Thousand Words" manifesto of June 1968.-Pre-1968:...
- Jiří GrušaJirí GrušaJiří Gruša was a Czech poet, novelist, translator, diplomat and politician.-Biography:...
- Ota FilipOta FilipThis article is on the Czech novelist, there is a minor actor by the name Ota Filip who is not the same personOta Filip , is a Czech novelist and journalist. He has written in both German and Czech. His novels have also been translated into French, Italian, Spanish and Polish...
- Jiří Kratochvil
- Ota PavelOta PavelOta Pavel was a Czech writer, journalist and sport reporter...
- Miroslav HolubMiroslav HolubMiroslav Holub was a Czech poet and immunologist.Miroslav Holub's work was heavily influenced by his experiences as an Immunologist, writing many poems using his scientific knowledge to poetic effect. His work is almost always unrhymed, so lends itself easily to translation...
- Jan KřesadloJan KresadloJan Křesadlo was the primary pseudonym used by Václav Jaroslav Karel Pinkava , a Czech psychologist who was also a prizewinning novelist and poet....
- Ivan KlímaIvan KlímaIvan Klíma is a Czech novelist and playwright.- Biography :Klíma's early childhood in Prague was happy and uneventful, but this all changed with the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, after the Munich Agreement...
- Jan SkácelJan SkácelJan Skácel was a Czech poet of Moravian origin, widely acclaimed as one of the best poets who had been writing in Czech....
- Jaroslav FoglarJaroslav FoglarJaroslav Foglar was a famous Czech author who wrote many novels about youths and their adventures in nature and dark city streets.-Early life:...
- Vladimír PáralVladimír PáralVladimír Páral is Czech prozaic, one of the most successful Czech contemporary writers.-Black pentalogy:*Veletrh splněných přání , 1964...
Contemporary literature (after 1990)
- Michal VieweghMichal VieweghMichal Viewegh is one of the most popular contemporary Czech writers and the bestselling one. He writes about romantic relationships of his contemporaries with humour, and variously successful irony and attempts at deeper meaningfulness; he is sometimes compared to Nick Hornby by his fans.His...
- Jáchym TopolJáchym TopolJáchym Topol is a Czech writer.- Life :Jáchym Topol was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Josef Topol, Czech playwright, poet, and translator of Shakespeare, and Jiřina Topolová, daughter of the famous Czech Catholic writer Karel Schulz.Topol's writing began with lyrics for the rock band Psí...
- Filip TopolFilip TopolFilip Topol is a Czech singer, songwriter, and pianist.He is the younger brother of Jáchym Topol, the son of Josef Topol, and the grandson of Karel Schulz....
- Jaroslav RudišJaroslav RudišJaroslav Rudiš is a Czech writer, journalist and musician.Rudiš became known after publishing his first novel Nebe pod Berlínem in 2002, the tale of a Czech teacher who chooses to leave his job and to start a new life in Berlin, where he plays music in the underground, which - and especially the...
- Jaroslav VelinskýJaroslav VelinskýJaroslav Velinský was born 1932 in Prague. He was miner, metal-smith, graphic artist, science fiction and detective writer, publisher, musician . One of the founders of the Czech folk festival Porta. Honorary member of Czech-ertar society . In the folk arena and among SF friends and fans known as...