František Mareš

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František Mareš
Member of the Senate
In office 1920 – 1925
Born	October 20, 1857 Hrdějovice
Died	February 6, 1942 Hluboká nad Vltavou
Political party	National Democratic Party
Occupation	professor, politician

František Mareš (October 20, 1857 - February 6, 1942) was a Czechoslovak professor of physiology and philosophy, and nationalist politician. He was rector of the Charles University in 1920-21, and member of the National Democrats.

[edit] Life

Mareš studied philosophy and medicine in Vienna and Prague. Promoted in 1886, he became a professor in 1890. He became a chairman of the Physiology Institute of the Charkes University in 1895, continuing in that capacity until 1928. In 1920, he was appointed rector of the Charles University for one year.

After the independence of Czechoslovakia from Austria-Hungary in 1918, Mareš became active in the Czechoslovak nationalist movement. He was an active member of the National Democrats, and was elected to the Czechoslovak Chamber of Deputies in 1918. In 1920, he became of member of the Senate, until the next election of 1925. At that time he became influenced by fascism, much to the dismay of the National Democratic leadership. In 1934, he was part of the leadership of the National Front (Národní fronta), later National Unity (Národní sjednocení). He was also a contributor to Vlajka.

[edit] Work

Mareš published his medical oriented in physiology in the works Všeobecná fysiologie and Fysiologie I-IV. His philosophy was briefly based upon the Vitalism of Henri Bergson and Hans Driesch. He was a critic of positivism. He also defended the Rukopis královédvorský, which were later exposed as forgeries by scientific dating methods.