Jan Gebauer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1838-10-08)8 October 1838 |
| Died | 25 May 1907(1907-05-25) (aged 68) Prague, Bohemia,Austria-Hungary |
| Nationality | Czech |
| Occupation | linguist |
| Academic work | |
| Notable works | Dictionary of the old Czech language |
Jan Gebauer (8 October 1838 – 25 May 1907) was a Czech linguist. He was a significant expert onCzech studies. His scientific work was influenced by the methods ofpositivism.
Jan Gebauer was born into a poor family in the small village ofÚbislavice. Thanks to a recommendation from a local clergyman, Gebauer received an offer to study at high school inJičín. After his school-leaving exam, he first went on to studytheology, but he did not finish it and enrolled onto aphilosophy program atCharles University instead. During the whole time of his studies, he suffered from a lack of money.
After finishing his studies, he started working as a teacher – inPrague at first, later inPardubice, and finally in Prague again. He received hisPh.D. in 1872 and became adocent of the Czech language at the Charles University in 1873. In 1880 he was named professor extraordinarius and one year later professor ordinarius.
In 1886, he exposed theManuscripts of Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora ("discovered" in 1817) as literary hoaxes byVáclav Hanka inMasaryk'sAthenaeum journal.[1]
Gebauer died on 25 May 1907 in Prague.
