Dušan Zbavitel (7 May 1925 – 7 August 2012) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

Life

Dušan Zbavitel studied

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

with Professor Vincenc Lesný at Charles University in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

in 1945–1948. After defending his CSc (

Candidate of Sciences Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "d ...

) dissertation in Bengali literature (1954), he started as a researcher at the Oriental Institute of the

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

. He remained there until being forced out for political reasons in 1971 during the period of Communist "normalization" that followed the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. After 1971, he worked as a freelance translator, and in 1978 he started as a teacher of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

at the School of Languages in

. He was active as an author and translator until the last days of his life. He translated from

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

, English and German.

Literary oeuvre

Zbavitel specialized in Bengali literature, winning international acclaim in this field. His most quoted literary works include a study of East Bengal folk ballads (''Bengali Folk Ballads from

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...

and the Question of their Authenticity'') and a comprehensive history of Bengali literature ("Bengali Literature") published in 1976 in the prestigious publication ''History of Indian Literature'' edited by

Jan Gonda Jan Gonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991) was a Dutch Indologist and the first Utrecht professor of Sanskrit. He was born in Gouda, in the Netherlands, and died in Utrecht. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht (since 1990 ...

. In addition to these monographs, the international research community has praised Zbavitel's numerous magazine articles (of which he wrote more than 100) such as a series of papers on

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

, the beginnings of modern Bengali drama and studies of ''baromasi'', a specific genre of medieval and folk Bengali literature. Zbavitel's prominence in this field is highlighted by his appointment first as a team member for the project ''The Dictionary of Oriental Literature'' and then as editor-in-chief of its second volume devoted to south Asian literature, which was published in London in 1974. Zbavitel is the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

’s best known

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

. He published a prolific amount despite being out of favor with Czechoslovakia's totalitarian regime. He authored or co-authored many specialized and popular books and initiated and edited a great number of collective works that still represent the best of Czech Indology. Zbavitel left an indelible trace on Czech culture with his erudite translations from the languages of India, amounting to dozens of books and countless magazine and journal contributions. Zbavitel educated several generations of Czech Indologists. While still just a researcher at the Oriental Institute of the

, he taught

at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University (1950–1968). He was not permitted to continue for political reasons after 1968, and was only able to return after the fall of the Communist regime (1989). In 1990, he rejoined the faculty, teaching the history of

and Bengali literature, ancient Indian poetry and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and leading courses in the advanced reading of Sanskrit and Bengali texts. He also authored language textbooks and other pedagogical texts. Zbavitel also translated from English and German. In total, he wrote or translated over 200 books, among others: Paul Williams and Anthony Tribe, ''Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition''; Michael Jordan, ''Buddha''; Deepak Chopra, ''Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment'';

Tom Lowenstein Tom Lowenstein (born 1941) is an English poet, ethnographer, teacher, cultural historian and translator. Beginning his working life as a school teacher, he visited Alaska in 1973 and went on to become particularly noted for his work on Inupiaq ( ...

, ''The Vision of Buddha''; Hans Küng and Heinrich von Stietencron, ''Christendum und Weltreligionen - Hinduismus''; Hans Küng and Heinrich Bechert, ''Christendum und Weltreligionen - Buddhismus''; Dalai Lama, ''The Collected Statements'', ''Articles and Interviews of His Holiness The XIV Dalai Lama''; Dalai Lama, ''How to Expand Love''; Dalai Lama, ''Many Ways to Nirvana''; Dalai Lama, ''How To Practice the Way to a Meaningful Life''; John Powers, ''Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism''; Michael Keene, ''World Religions''; Sogyal Rinpoche, ''The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying''; J. R. Porter, ''Jesus Christ'', ''The Jesus of History'', ''The Christ of Faith''; Jacob Newman and Gavriel Sivan, ''Judaism A-Z Illustrated: Lexicon of Terms & Concepts''.

Awards and honors

Zbavitel received many awards at home and in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for his research and translations. He received the Tagore Memorial Award from the Government of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

for his ''History of Bengali Literature'' in 1977, the title ''Lokaratna'' for his contribution to folklore research (1981) and the ''Rabindratattvacharya'' award for his studies on

(1987). In 2006, he received India's third highest civilian award, the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, for his lifetime achievements. His Czech and Czechoslovak awards included the State Award for Translated Work in 2004. International and Czech Bengalists together published a special edition of the journal ''Archiv Orientální'' on the occasion of Zbavitel's 75th birthday.''Bengali Studies: Special Issue Dedicated to Dušan Zbavitel to His 75th Birthday.'' Edited by

William Radice William Radice is a poet, writer and translator. He is the senior lecturer in Bengali in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His research area is in Bengali language and literature. He has translated several Bengali ...

. ''Archiv Orientální'' vol. 68, no. 3 (2000).

Selected bibliography

Monographs

* ''Oriental Studies in Czechoslovakia''. Prague: Orbis, 1959. Also translated into German, French and Russian.. * ''Rabíndranáth Thákur: Vývoj básníka''. Praha: Orbis, 1961. * ''Bengali Folk-Ballads from Mymensingh and the Problem of their Authenticity''. Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1963. * ''Non-Finite Verbal Forms in Bengali''. Prague: Academia, 1970. * ''Bangladéš: Stát, který se musel zrodit''. Prague: ČTK, Pressfoto, 1973. * ''Bengali Literature''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1976. * ''Jedno horké indické léto''. Praha: Panorama, 1982. Translated into Russian as: . Moscow: Nauka, 1986. * ''Starověká Indie''. Praha: Panorama, 1985. * ''Hinduismus a jeho cesty k dokonalosti''. Praha: DharmaGaia, 1993. . * ''Otazníky starověké Indie''. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 1997. . * ''Bengálská literatura: Od tantrických písní k Rabíndranáthu Thákurovi''. Praha: ExOriente, 2008. .

Collective works

* ''Pohádka o písni a jiné indické povídky''. Praha: SNKL, 1953. * DZ, Erich Herold a Kamil Zvelebil. ''Indie zblízka''. Praha: Orbis, 1960. * DZ a Jan Marek. ''Dvakrát Pákistán''. Praha: Orbis, 1964. Translated into German as: ''Zweimal Pakistan''. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1966. Translated into Russian as: ''Dva Pakistana''. Moscow: Nauka, 1966. * ''Bozi, bráhmani, lidé: Čtyři tisíciletí hinduismu''. Praha: Nakladatelství Československé akademie věd, 1964. Translated into Russian as: . Moscow: Nauka, 1969. * ''Slovník spisovatelů Asie a Afriky''. Praha: Odeon, 1967. * ''Moudrost a umění starých Indů''. Praha: Odeon, 1971. * ''Dictionary of Oriental Literatures''. Vol. 2: ''South and South-East Asia''. London: Allen and Unwin, 1973. * ''Setkání a proměny''. Praha: Odeon, 1976. Translated into Polish as: ''Spotkania i przemiany''. Warsaw: Panstwo wydav., 1983 * ''Bohové s lotosovýma očima: Hinduistické mýty v indické literatuře tří tisíciletí''. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1986. 2nd ed. 1997. . * DZ a Dana Kalvodová. ''Pod praporem krále nebes: Divadlo v Indii''. Praha: Odeon, 1987. * DZ a Jaroslav Vacek. ''Průvodce dějinami staroindické literatury''. Třebíč: Arca JiMfa, 1996. . * DZ, Miloslav Krása, Dagmar Marková. ''Indie a Indové: Od dávnověku k dnešku''. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1997. . * ''Základní texty východních náboženství''. Sv. 1: ''Hinduismus''. Praha: Argo, 2007. . * ''Základní texty východních náboženství''. Sv. 2: ''Raný indický buddhismus''. Praha: Argo, 2008. .

Textbooks

* ''Učebnice bengálštiny''. Praha: Nakladatelství Československé akademie věd, 1953. * ''Lehrbuch des Bengalischen''. Heidelberg: J. Groos, 1970. 2nd ed. 1989, 3rd ed. 1996. . * ''Bengálština''. Praha: SPN, 1971. * ''Sanskrt''. Brno: UJEP, 1987. * DZ a Jaroslav Strnad. . Praha: Karolinum, 2006. . (Revised and expanded textbook of 1987.), 2nd rev. ed. 2012.

Translations from Bengali

* ''Odpor: Výbor z povídek mladých bengálských autorů''. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1951. * Bhattáčárja, Sukánta. ''Písně hladu a revoluce''. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1953. * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Pouť za člověkem''. Praha: SNKLHU, 1954. * Bandjopádhjáj, Mánik. ''Plavec na řece Padmě''. Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1954. * ''Bengálské milostné balady''. Praha: SNKLHU, 1956. Translated into German as: ''Bengalische Balladen''. Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, 1977. * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Básně a veršovaná dramata''. Praha: Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1958. (Spisy Rabíndranatha Thákura, sv. 1. - The Rabindranath Tagore Collected Works, vol. 1) * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Gora. Dvě sestry''. Praha: SNKLHU, 1959 (Spisy Rabíndranatha Thákura, sv. 2. - The Rabindranath Tagore Collected Works, vol. 2) * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Povídky, essaye a projevy''. Praha: SNKLHU, 1960. (Spisy Rabíndranatha Thákura, sv. 3. - The Rabindranath Tagore Collected Works, vol. 3) * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Poslední báseň''. Praha: SNKLU, 1961. 2nd ed.: Praha: Vyšehrad, 2000. . * Ishák, Ábu. ''Začarovaný dům''. Praha: SNKLU, 1962. * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Země karet''. Praha: NČVU, 1962. * Bandjopádhjáj, Mánik. ''Tanec loutek''. Praha: SNKLU, 1964. * Gangopádhjáj, Narájan. ''Vzdušné zámky''. Praha: Odeon, 1967. * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Gítáňdžali''. Praha: Supraphon, 1973. * Valíulláh, Said. ''Strom bez kořenů''. Praha: Odeon, 1974. * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Muž a žena''. Praha: Odeon, 1976. 2nd ed.: Praha: Vyšehrad, 2000. . * Bandjopádhjáj, Bibhútibhúšan. ''Píseň o cestě''. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1978. 2nd rev. and enl. ed.: Praha: ExOriente, 2010. . * Basu, Samareš. ''Pouť za nektarem nesmrtelnosti''. Praha: Odeon, 1982. * Thákur, Rabíndranáth. ''Na břehu řeky Zapomnění''. Praha: BB/art, 2005. * Šankar. ''Lidská džungle''. Praha: ExOriente, 2011. .

Translations from Sanskrit and Pali

* Sómadéva. ''Oceán příběhů''. 2 sv. Praha: Odeon, 1981. * ''Rámájana''. Praha: Argo, 2000. . 2nd ed. 2015. . * ''Kautiljova Arthašástra, aneb, Učebnice věcí světských''. Praha: Arista, 2001. . * ''Upanišady''. Praha: DharmaGaia, 2004. . * ''O copatých mniších, šibalech a nevěrných manželkách: příběhy ze staré Indie''. Praha: Knižní klub, 2007. . * ''Džátaky: Příběhy z minulých životů Buddhy''. 2nd enl. ed. Praha: DharmaGaia, 2007. . * ''Mánavadharmašástra, aneb, Manuovo ponaučení o dharmě''. Praha: ExOriente, 2009. .

References

General references

* ONDRAČKA, Lubomír. "O autorovi". In Dušan Zbavitel: ''Bengálská literatura: Od tantrických písní k Rabíndranáthu Thákurovi''. Praha: ExOriente, 2008, pp. 341–343, . * ONDRAČKA, Lubomír. „Dušan Zbavitel a jeho Rámájana.“ In Dušan Zbavitel: '' Rámájana''. Praha: Argo, 2015, s. 183–187. . * PREINHAELTEROVÁ, Hana. "Dušan Zbavitel celebrates his 70th birthday". ''Archiv Orientální'' vol. 63, no. 3 (1995), pp. 364–367. (includes Zbavitel's bibliography until 1994.) * PREINHAELTEROVÁ, Hana. "Dušan Zbavitel sedmdesátiletý". ''Nový Orient'' vol. 50, no. 2, (1995), pp. 237–238. * VRŽDIAK, Radovan. "Up-to-date Bibliography of Dušan Zbavitel". ''Archiv Orientální'' vol. 68, no. 3 (2000), pp. 535–536. (includes amended bibliography 1995–1999.)

External links

Dušan Zbavitel on the website of Obec překladatelů (Union of Translators)

Dušan Zbavitel in Kdo byl kdo: Čeští a slovenští orientalisté, afrikanisté a iberoamerikanisté (Who was Who: Czech and Slovak Orientalists, Afrikanists and Iberoamericanists)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zbavitel, Dusan 1925 births 2012 deaths Czech male writers Czech Indologists Linguists from the Czech Republic Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Rabindra Puraskar Charles University alumni