Section Archive Czechs in History
Alberto Vojtěch Frič – Part II – The story of a Czech adventurer & ethnologist who brought a South American Indian to Prague
In Part I of last week’s Czechs in History we focussed on Czech
adventurer and ethnologist Alberto Vojtěch Frič’s journeys to South
America, where he befriended the Chamacoco Indians in Paraguay. At the end
of his third journey, in 1908, he learned to his dismay that the Chamacoco
were being decimated by a mysterious illness. Through a curious mix of
circumstances, he ended up bringing one of them, the son of a tribal leader
named Cherwuish, back to Prague and they soon became good friends. A burden
of responsibility for the South American, however, lay heavily on the
ethnologist and it was of utmost importance to find a cure for his illness.
More
Alberto Vojtěch Frič – Part I – The story of a Czech adventurer & ethnologist who brought a South American Indian to Prague
Alberto Vojtěch Frič was a Czech botanist, ethnologist and traveller, who
earned fame in Bohemia, Europe, and parts of South America in the early
20th century. His first love from childhood was botany but early after his
first travels to South America, his professional focus shifted from plants
to the lives of indigenous peoples. During his excursions, he befriended
the Chamacoco Indians at Gran Chaco in Paraguay, and on his third visit,
learning that the tribe was being decimated by an unknown illness, brought
one of them, Cherwuish (the son of a tribal leader) back for treatment to
Prague. More
Egon Erwin Kisch – the Raging Reporter
One of Prague’s best known German-language authors was Egon Erwin Kisch,
who was born in the Czech capital 125 years ago this Thursday. His
excellent style and original choice of stories, together with his dramatic
life, earned him a reputation of the ‘Raging Reporter’ that is still
very much alive today.
More
The rise and fall of the King of Comedians, Vlasta Burian
For all the funny people who have contributed to a century of Czech
filmmaking, the title “King of Comics” belongs to only one. Vlasta
Burian would be 119 years old next month, and he would be very proud of his
reputation indeed, still a star of the Czech television screen today. But
his career as a comedian went hand in hand with the tragedies of the 20th
century, and in his lifetime he was a pauper, a prince, and a pauper again.
More
Cosmas of Prague and the Chronicle of the Bohemians
Much of the tapestry of old Czech history and the fundamental legendry of
this country is known to us today thanks to the labours of one wise old
man. His name was Cosmas of Prague, he died almost 900 years ago, but
today
his name is known as well or even better than some of the kings who he
immortalised in writing. Cosmas of Prague set the foundation on which
Czech
historiography was built when he recorded all he knew about his nation in
its first annals, the Chronicle of the Bohemians. More
Georg Placzek – a critical link in the making of the atom bomb
To his many Nobel Prize-winning colleagues, Georg Placzek was a physicist
of boundless importance. It was not because of a breakthrough discovery on
his part, or because he published widely, but because he tended to be the
man with the right wits at the right time. At Los Alamos, New Mexico, on
July 16th, 1945, he was the only Czech present for the detonation of the
first nuclear explosion – an event he had helped to create. More
Fighter against dictatorships: Cardinal Josef Beran
Archbishop, later Cardinal, Josef Beran, become a symbol of opposition to
totalitarian regimes. He was dubbed the archbishop who refused to be
silenced. The punishment for speaking out was imprisonment first under the
Nazi occupation and then the Communists. In this week’s Czechs in History
we look at Josef Beran’s exemplary life on the 40th anniversary of his
death in exile.
More
Karel Kramář: first Czechoslovak PM but flawed popular politician
Karel Kramář earned his place in history as the first prime minister of
Czechoslovakia. But his political career spanned more than four turbulent
decades. We look at a life than included a death sentence, assassination
attempt and birth of a new state. More
Leoš Janáček, the composer for a new republic
The first two names always given at the top of the pantheon of Czech
classical music are Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana; the third is
invariably Leoš Janáček. Probably the most innovative of the three,
Janáček likely lags behind the famous duo only because even today, 80
years after his death, musicians, musicologists and music lovers are still
reassessing those innovations, which took classical music into uncharted
territory. More
“From High C’s to High Seas” – the life of Eduard Ingriš
In 1947, at the age of 42, Eduard Ingriš had already lived what most would
call a full life. He was one of Czechoslovakia’s foremost composers,
with
several hundred pieces to his name. He had been composing since he was 15
years old, and he was a rich man. His musical “The Capricious Mirror”
enjoyed 1,600 performances in Prague, a record untouched even on Broadway.
As it turns out though, his life was just getting started. More
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