Josef Dobrovský | |
|---|---|
 Josef Dobrovský byFrantišek Tkadlík | |
| Born | (1753-08-17)17 August 1753 |
| Died | 6 January 1829(1829-01-06) (aged 75) |
| Philosophical work | |
| Main interests | philology,history |
Josef Dobrovský (17 August 1753 – 6 January 1829) was a Czechphilologist andhistorian. He was one of the most important figures of theCzech National Revival along withJosef Jungmann.
Dobrovský was born atBalassagyarmat inNógrád County,Kingdom of Hungary, when his father Jakub Doubravský was temporarily stationed as asoldier there. His mother was Magdalena Doubravská, née Wannerová. Due to an error in thevital record, his surname was permanently changed to Dobrovský.[1]
He received his first education in theGerman school atHoršovský Týn, made his first acquaintance with theCzech language and soon made himself fluent in it at theNěmecký Brod gymnasium, and then studied for some time under theJesuits atKlatovy. In 1769 he began to studyphilosophy at theUniversity of Prague. In 1772 he was admitted among the Jesuits atBrno and was preparing for a Christianmission in India. However, the entire order was dissolved in the Czech lands in 1773 and Dobrovský thus returned to Prague to studytheology.[2]
After holding for some time the office of tutor to CountNostitz, he obtained an appointment first as vice-rector, and then as rector, in the general seminary at Hradisko (now part ofOlomouc); but in 1790 he lost his post through the abolition of the seminaries throughout theHabsburg Empire, and returned as a guest to the house of the count.[2] At this time, he wrote some of the most important works inSlavic studies,historiography andphilology.
In 1792 he was commissioned by the Bohemian Academy of Sciences to visitStockholm,Turku,Saint Petersburg andMoscow in search of the manuscripts which had been scattered by theThirty Years' War, and on his return he accompanied Count Nostitz to Switzerland and Italy.[2]
In the 1780s, Dobrovský participated in the academic life ofPrague. In 1784, he helped to set up theRoyal Czech Society of Sciences, and in 1818 theNational Museum of what was to becomeCzechoslovakia and eventually the Czech Republic.
However, his reason began to give way in 1795, and in 1801 he had to be confined in alunatic asylum, but by 1803 he had completely recovered. The rest of his life was mainly spent either in Prague or at the country seats of his friends Counts Nostitz andCzernin, but his death occurred inBrno, where he had gone in 1828 to study in the local libraries.[2]
Dobrovský remains a revered figure of Czechoslovak intellectual history. He has been subject also to philosophical analysis, for instance byMilan Machovec (in his 1964 monograph).
While his fame rests chiefly on his labours inSlavic philology his botanical studies are not without value in the history of the science.[2]
Between 1948 and 1968 Czech poetVladimír Holan lived in the so-called "Dobrovský House" onKampa, often saying that theBlueAbbé (a nickname by which Dobrovský was known) would sometimes visit him.
SeePalacký,J. Dobrowskys Leben und gelehrtes Wirken (1833).
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dobrowsky, Joseph".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 351.
Media related toJosef Dobrovský at Wikimedia Commons
