Jan Karafiát was a Czech clergyman of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren

Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren

The Protestant Church of Czech Brethren , was formed in 1918 in Czechoslovakia through the unification of the Protestant churches of the Lutheran and Reformed confessions...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

. He is best known for his classic children's book Broučci

Broučci

Broučci is a classic children's book by Jan Karafiát published in the Czech language in the early 1870s. The title is the Czech word for beetles, and the word is also used for "traditional Czech figures of fairylike insect people" such as the characters in the book...

, the Czech language

Czech language

Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...

 word for beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

, that was first published in the early 1870s

1870s

The 1870s continued the trends of the previous decade, as new empires, imperialism and militarism rose in Europe and Asia. America was recovering from the Civil War. Germany declared independence in 1871 and began its Second Reich. Labor unions and strikes occurred worldwide in the later part of...

. Traditional Czech figurine

Figurine

A figurine is a statuette that represents a human, deity or animal. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator. The earliest were made of stone or clay...

s of fairylike insect people are based on the characters in the book.

Life

Karafiát was born to a noble family in Jimramov

Jimramov

Jimramov is a small town in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic.The town covers an area of , and has a population of 1,185 ....

 in 1846. He went to school at Gütersloh

Gütersloh

Gütersloh is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 96,320 people.- Geography :...

. He studied theology in Litomyšl

Litomyšl

Litomyšl is a town and municipality in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. The chateau complex in the town centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:...

, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 (1866–1867), Bonn

Bonn

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

 (1867–1868), Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 (1866–1869) and Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 (1871–1872). He became Vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

  at Roudnice nad Labem

Roudnice nad Labem

Roudnice nad Labem is a small town on left bank of the Elbe River . It has about 13 500 inhabitants and covers an area of 16,67 km². The town is situated near the famous hill Říp, which is well known for its legendary connection with Praotec Čech....

 and later administrator of the Protestant theological seminar in Čáslav

Cáslav

Čáslav is a town in eastern part of Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.- History :History of Čáslav begins after year 800 with founding of citadel and settlement called Hrádek. Near Hrádek, new town with huge square was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in 1250...

. From 1874 till his conflict with the consistory

Consistory

-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....

 in Vienna in 1895 he led the parish of Hrubá Lhota. From that point until his death in 1929 he lived in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

.