František Čelakovský

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František Ladislav Čelakovský, also known by the pseudonym Marcian Hromotluk, (born March 7th 1799 in Strakonice; died August 5th 1852 in Prague) was a Czech writer and translator.

[edit] Life

Starting in 1812, he attended the secondary school in České Budějovice, then in Písek and finally studied philosophy in Prague. Due to financial difficulties, he had to go back to České Budějovice, but was quickly excluded due to reading out works by Jan Hus. He then lived as a translator and educator. In 1830 he received an offer from Russia -- to found and lead a Slavic library in Saint Petersburg along with Pavel Jozef Šafárik und Václav Hanka. However, Čelakovský soon received a pension from Prince Kinský. From 1833 on, he was the editor of a newspaper in Prague, but was forced to leave it due to having published an article that criticized Russian Tsars. In 1838, he was librarian for the Kinský family. In Wrocław, 1841, he was appointed Professor of Slavic Literature and worked there until 1849, where he held the same title in the University of Prague.

[edit] Works

He wrote several volumes of poetry, of which one of the more well known is Růže stolistá (the hundred-petaled rose).

Ohlasy písní ruských (echo of Russian songs) was inspired by Russian bylinas. The hero is a rich, young and handsome man that rises above the masses with his bravery, and fights against evil in the name of the simple people. The story took place around the 1400s, when the Turks and Tartars attacked Russia.

Ohlasy písní českých (echo of Bohemian songs) was not about a heroic epic, but more about a satiric and lyrical love poem. Many of his books feature illustrations by Adolf Kašpar.

He published Bohemian, Moravian, and Slovak poetry, which he dedicated to Václav Hanka. At the same time, he also translated Russian, Serbian, and Lithuanian folk songs. Among his most famous translations are works from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Walter Scott, and Johann Gottfried Herder.

Čelakovský was one of the first literary critics who recognized the poetic genious of the Slovenian poet France Prešeren. His positive assesment of Prešeren's poetry had a very important role in the development of the poet's self-esteem.