Karel Sabina (pen names include Arian Želinský and Leo Blass) (29 December 1813 – 8 November 1877) was a Czech writer and journalist.

Life

Karel Sabina grew up in poverty as an extramarital child of a daughter of a sugar producing factory's director in the family of a bricklayer and a washerwoman. Sabina later claimed that he was an illegitimate son of a Polish noble. Studied philosophy and law, but did not graduate. In

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

Sabina became one of the leaders of the Czech radical democrats, the founder of a secret radical political circle "Repeal" (the name inspired by Irish revolutionaries), a member of the National Committee and the Czech congress. Sabina published many articles (several of which were censored) to magazines during this period.

Imprisonment

In 1849 he was arrested for taking part in the " May Coup" (a plan to make an uprising, inspired by Bakunin, then present in Prague) and in 1851 sentenced to death together with 24 other men; but these sentences were changed by the Emperor to 18 years in the Olomouc prison; in 1857 he was released, following the Emperor's general amnesty of May 8. He came back to Prague and lived as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

writer.

Allegations of betrayal

In 1870 the newspaper ''Vaterland'' accused Sabina of being a police informant. Sabina successfully sued the newspaper for a libel. In 1872, in an unofficial trial by a self-appointed jury of eight Czech intellectuals (including Jan Neruda and Vítězslav Hálek), Karel Sabina was found guilty of being an informant. Sabina, unable to find

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

abroad, was forced to live in hiding in Prague. For the rest of his life, Karel Sabina denied the accusations.Karel Sabina
The reasons of Sabina's alleged cooperation with the police are not quite clear; if it happened, it might have been a combination of disillusion with the failed revolution which resulted in his long imprisonment, constant police pressure afterwards and his extreme poverty.Karel Sabina
/ref> Being an outcast - his books were no longer sold, on posters (such as the one for the '' Prodaná nevěsta'' - whose

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

was seen by some people as Sabina's refutation of the accusations until

Miroslav Ivanov Miroslav Ivanov may refer to: * Miroslav Ivanov (writer) (1929–1999), Czech nonfiction writer * Miroslav Ivanov (footballer) (born 1981), Bulgarian footballer * Miroslav Ivanov (musician) Miroslav Ivanov ( bg, Мирослав Иванов) i ...

's investigation in 1971 published in Ivanov's book ''Labyrint'' proved them incorrect) his name was replaced by his initials, and he risked physical attacks whenever he appeared on the streets. However, he continued to write under pen names, some of which are unknown today, thus greatly complicating the historians' effort to make Sabina's

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

of articles complete.

Death

Sabina died in poverty and scorn in 1877, general exhaustion being given as the cause of death.

Selected works

As a journalist, he wrote mainly for ''Květy'', ''Moravský Týdenník'', ''Humorist'', ''Lípa'', ''Pražské noviny'' and ''Wčela'' (he was an editor in the last two, replacing Karel Havlíček Borovský in both of them).

Novels

* ''Hrobník'' (1837), ''Sexton'' * ''Blouznění'' (1857), ''Rapture'' * ''Hedvika'' (1858), ''Hedwig'' * ''Jen tři léta!'' (1860), ''Three years only!'' * ''Na poušti'' (1863), ''In the desert'' * ''Oživené hroby'' (1870), ''Enlivened Graves'', inspired by his imprisonment, his best novel * ''Morana čili Svět a jeho nicoty'' (1874), '' Morana or The World and its Nothingnesses''

Plays

* ''Černá růže'', ''The Black Rose'' * ''Inzerát'', ''Advertisement'' * ''Šašek Jiřího z Poděbrad'', ''

Jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

of George of Poděbrady'' * ''Maloměstské klepny'', ''Smalltown Gossipmongers''

Tales

* ''Obrazy ze 14. a 15. věku'' (1844), ''Tales from the 14th and the 15th century'' * ''Povídky, pověsti, obrazy a novely'' (1845), ''Stories, legends, tales and novellas''

Librettos

* '' Prodaná nevěsta'', by Bedřich Smetana * '' Braniboři v Čechách'', by Bedřich Smetana * ''Starý ženich'', by Karel Bendl * ''V studni'', by Vilém Blodek

Others

* ''Básně'' (1841), ''Poems'' * ''Úvod povahopisný'' (1845), ''Introduction to a temperament'' - a very important book, being the very first study on

Karel Hynek Mácha Karel Hynek Mácha () (16 November 1810 – 5 November 1836) was a Czech romantic poet. Biography Mácha grew up in Prague, the son of a foreman at a mill. He learned Latin and German in school. He went on to study law at Prague University; du ...

, who was Sabina's friend. This book recognised and illustrated Mácha's importance and genius. * ''Duchovní komunismus'' (1861), ''Spiritual Communism'' - about everyone's right for education * ''Dějiny literatury československé'', ''The History of the Czechoslovakian Literature''

Sabina in popular culture

Karel Sabina is mentioned in several poems in prose by Ivan Wernisch.

References

External links

* M. Ivanov, ''Labyrint'', Prague, 1971
Info and photo, in Czech

Info and photo, in Czech

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabina, Karel 1813 births 1877 deaths Writers from Prague Czech journalists Czech philosophers 19th-century Czech poets Czech male poets Czech male dramatists and playwrights Czech opera librettists 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century Czech dramatists and playwrights 19th-century male writers