Jan Karafiát

Jan Karafiát
Jan Karafiát
Born	4 January 1846(1846-01-04) Jimramov
Died	31 January 1929(1929-01-31) (aged 83) Prague
Occupation	Theologian, author

Jan Karafiát (4 January 1846 — 31 January 1929) was a Czech clergyman of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and author. He is best known for his classic children's book Broučci, the Czech language word for beetle, that was first published in the early 1870s.^[1] Traditional Czech figurines of fairylike insect people^[2] are based on the characters in the book.

Life

Karafiát was born to a noble family in Jimramov in 1846. He went to school at Gütersloh. He studied theology in Litomyšl, Berlin (1866–1867), Bonn (1867–1868), Vienna (1866–1869) and Edinburgh (1871–1872). He became Vicar at Roudnice nad Labem and later administrator of the Protestant theological seminar in Čáslav. From 1874 till his conflict with the consistory in Vienna in 1895 he led the parish of Hrubá Lhota. From that point until his death in 1929 he lived in Prague.

References

^ Peter Hunt, Sheila G. Bannister Ray International companion encyclopedia of children's literature page 775
^ Raul A. Barreneche 3 friends transform a Czech getaway Arts & Leisure September 15, 2006 International Herald Tribune]

Persondata
Name	Karafiat, Jan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	4 January 1846
Place of birth	Jimramov
Date of death	31 January 1929
Place of death	Prague