2011-12-27T15:42:25+01:00 Radio Prague http://radio.cz/en/section/czechs/the-czechoslovak-legions-myth-reality-gold-and-glory-1 urn:uuid:8f26b3d7-e8db-5184-ab86-280af01518ae 2011-12-27T15:42:25+01:00

The Czechoslovak legions occupy an almost legendary place in Czech history. They comprise the armed forces that fought during and after World War I on the allied side in pursuit of an independent Czechoslovakia. The biggest force, and most potent myths, centre on the Russian force, which became embroiled in the civil war, spending three years and travelling thousands of miles before returning home. We look at the myths and facts about their exploits.

urn:uuid:e60b8996-e7bb-560e-be02-564f1033ba74 2011-10-04T14:56:11+02:00

In this edition of 'Czechs in History,' Brian Kenety takes a look at the life of Czechoslovakia's greatest race car driver, Eliška Junková, the "queen of the steering wheel" and Jazz Age belle, whose stellar career came to a screeching halt after a tragic accident claimed the love of her life.

urn:uuid:519f88fa-b47f-59a4-891c-eb28f9204588 2011-09-27T12:20:06+02:00

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.

urn:uuid:d6cc4502-1dcb-5fe2-9337-2096ee1e06ef 2011-08-30T17:26:47+02:00

Jaroslav Marvan was one of the most prolific Czech actors of all times with more than 150 film roles and many more theatre acts. He appeared in his first – silent – movie in 1926, and he made his last film in 1973, a year before he died. In this edition of Czechs in History we look at the extraordinary career of Jaroslav Marvan, a theatre and film star before the war as well as in communist Czechoslovakia.

urn:uuid:90a58f35-5fc0-5aad-bb39-bcab489c376d 2011-08-02T17:08:49+02:00

This edition of Czechs in History looks at the life and career of Jiří Voskovec, one half of the legendary Czech duo Voskovec and Werich, whose work at the “Liberated Theatre” or Osvobozené Divadlo in the 1920s and 30s left an indelible mark on Czech culture.

urn:uuid:f4ee75bc-17c7-5cd5-b481-89bbf1c3cda8 2011-07-06T02:30:00+02:00

One of the Czech nation's most beloved sons, Jan Amos Comenius ( 1592-1670 is buried in Holland. This visionary religious leader, theologian, philosopher and educationist lived most of his life in exile, fleeing political and religious persecution in Europe. His last 14 years, among his most active and productive, were spent in Amsterdam "the most cherished among cities, the jewel of the Netherlands and the pride of Europe", where he hoped to realize his project for the betterment of humanity.

urn:uuid:d5c875c0-6b44-5cf8-8b41-6f7e97eb4928 2011-07-05T02:30:00+02:00

When one looks back on a thousand years of Czech history one of the names that still carries great weight is that of 17th century thinker Jan Amos Komenský - the humanist reformer, Protestant bishop, and philosopher the world came to know as Comenius. A man who witnessed the tragic subjugation of his country in the era of religious and political conflict known as the Thirty Years' War. Who would be forced to flee his own homeland, yet never wavered in his overriding belief that the reform of mankind was possible, necessary, and indeed within reach.

urn:uuid:42a97848-f25b-5a6c-bb46-0b9c0338d7c7 2010-10-13T00:00:00+02:00

The story of Vítězslava Kaprálová’s is one of a 25-year-old girl who had a career in music of five years. However, even today, 70 years after her death, there are societies and ensembles dedicated to her, her music is still performed and rerecorded and she remains an inspiration to many as a tragic but heroic figure, particularly for many female composers and conductors. Among them is the composer Sylvie Bodorová who studied at the same conservatory as Kaprálová, in Brno.

urn:uuid:1f2e7b4f-e70d-59c0-b5ed-0b8a925a2779 2010-08-18T11:28:21+02:00

The Czechoslovak legions occupy an almost legendary place in Czech history. They comprise the armed forces that fought during and after World War I on the allied side in pursuit of an independent Czechoslovakia. The biggest force, and most potent myths, centre on the Russian force, which became embroiled in the civil war, spending three years and travelling thousands of miles before returning home. We look at the myths and facts about their exploits.

urn:uuid:a2aa9a05-40a5-5f9b-9691-cd7b7c1ee2f7 2010-07-21T13:20:50+02:00

The name Jaroslav Preiss does not create many ripples when it is thrown out today. Perhaps one Czech in a hundred could identify who he was. But at the birth of Czechoslovakia and in the 1920s and 1930s, Preiss was an economic and business colossus and contributed to making the country into a major industrial player between the wars. Chris Johnstone looks at the life of the controversial figure.

urn:uuid:7492adc1-c406-5377-b592-8edb1db2e8cc 2010-06-02T16:11:18+02:00

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.

urn:uuid:7e0e3eea-8339-53db-90de-19693feaf958 2010-05-26T13:28:09+02:00

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.

urn:uuid:878a844d-5a45-56fd-b740-2d8fb61eafb0 2010-04-28T17:01:34+02:00

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.

urn:uuid:14008c7d-4d17-52d8-82c5-fe89934dbc49 2010-03-31T15:07:33+02:00

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.

urn:uuid:193d6874-5ebf-5ede-ac4c-d62b853f48b3 2010-03-03T17:15:24+01:00

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.

urn:uuid:e269211f-29e8-5855-819e-c81d04604640 2010-01-20T17:28:58+01:00

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.

urn:uuid:37c0714e-a5b2-5113-bed7-5ec5376247fd 2009-12-23T00:00:00+01:00

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.

urn:uuid:e9b8ef94-0a40-5d46-84a7-2e84382dbbfe 2009-11-25T14:46:44+01:00

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.

urn:uuid:8e9caf4c-a588-5ed6-9942-e8267ae246ca 2009-09-30T17:56:14+02:00

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.

urn:uuid:da6a35aa-e54e-5415-ad26-ee407df7cfa3 2009-08-12T14:27:34+02:00

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.