Karel Hynek Mácha () (16 November 1810 – 5 November 1836) 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, ...
romantic poet.
Biography
Mácha grew up 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 ...
, the son of a foreman at a mill. He learned
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and German in school. He went on to study law at
Prague University; during that time he also became involved in theatre (as an actor he first appeared in
Jan Nepomuk Štěpánek's play ''Czech and German'' in July 1832 in
Benešov
Benešov (; german: Beneschau; also known as Benešov u Prahy) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the Konopiště Castle.
Administrative parts
Villages of Baba, ...
), where he met
Eleonora Šomková, with whom he had a son out of wedlock. He was fond of travel, enjoying trips into the mountains, and was an avid walker. Eventually he moved to
Litoměřice, a quiet town some 60 km from Prague, to prepare for law school exams and to write poetry. Three days before he was to be married to Šomková, just a few weeks after he had begun working as a legal assistant, Mácha overexerted himself while helping to extinguish a fire and soon thereafter died of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
.
The day after his death had been scheduled as his wedding day in Prague.
Mácha was buried in Litoměřice in a pauper's grave. Recognition came after his death: in 1939, his remains were exhumed, and they were given a formal state burial at the
Vyšehrad cemetery
Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
in Prague. A statue was erected in his honor in Petřín Park, Prague.
In 1937 a biographical film, ''Karel Hynek Mácha'', was made by Zet Molas (a pen name of
Zdena Smolová
Zdena may refer to:
* Zdena, river in Sanski Most
* Zdena Herfortová (born 1945), Czech film and stage actress
* Zdena Salivarová (born 1938), Czech-born writer and translator
* Zdena Studenková (born 1954), Slovak film and stage actress
* Z ...
).
Lake Mácha ( cs, Máchovo jezero) was named after him in 1961.
Mácha was honored on a 50 haléř and a 1 koruna stamp on 30 April 1936, Scott Catalog #213–214. The stamp depicts a statue of Mácha that is found in Prague and was issued by the postal agency of Czechoslovakia. He was again honored on a 43 koruna postage stamp issued by the postal agency of the Czech Republic on 10 March 2010. This 43 koruna postage stamp is presented on a miniature souvenir sheet. The Scott catalog number for this postage stamp honoring Macha is Scott #3446.
Karel Mácha was appointed patron saint of the youth collective "De Barries" in 2019.
Works
His lyrical epic poem ''
Máj
''Máj'' ( Czech for the month ''May''; ) is a romantic poem by Karel Hynek Mácha in four cantos. It was fiercely criticized when first published, but since then has gained the status of one of the most prominent works of Czech literature; in t ...
'' (''May''), published in 1836 shortly before his death, was judged by his contemporaries as confusing, too individualistic, and not in harmony with the national ideas.
[Marcela Sulak, "Introduction," in ] Czech playwright
Josef Kajetán Tyl even wrote a parody of Mácha's style, "Rozervanec" (The Chaotic). "Máj" was rejected by publishers, and was published by a vanity press at Mácha's own expense, not long before his early death.
Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Josef Bohuslav Foerster (30 December 1859 – 29 May 1951) was a Czechs, Czech composer and musicologist. He is often referred to as J. B. Foerster, and his surname is sometimes spelled Förster.
Life
Foerster was born in Prague. His ancestors ...
set May for choir and orchestra as his Op.159.
Mácha's genius was discovered and glorified much later by the poets and novelists of the 1850s (e.g.,
Jan Neruda
Jan Nepomuk Neruda (Czech: �jan ˈnɛpomuk ˈnɛruda 9 July 1834 – 22 August 1891) was a Czech journalist, writer, poet and art critic; one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the " May School".
Early lif ...
,
Vítězslav Hálek
Vítězslav Hálek (; 5 April 1835, in Odolena Voda – 8 October 1874), also known as Vincenc Hálek, was a Czech poet, writer, journalist, dramatist and theatre critic. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the May Schoo ...
, and
Karolina Světlá
Karolina Světlá (born Johana Rottová) (24 February 1830 in Prague – 7 September 1899 in Prague) was a Czech female author of the 19th century. She was associated with the literary May School. She married Professor Petr Mužák (1821–1892) ...
) and "Máj" is now regarded as the classic work of Czech
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
and is considered one of the best Czech poems ever written. It contains forebodings of many of the tendencies of 20th-century literature: existentialism, alienation, isolation, surrealism, and so on.
Mácha also authored a collection of autobiographical sketches titled ''Pictures From My Life'', the 1835–36 novel ''
Cikáni
''Cikáni'' (in English ''Gypsies'') is an 1835 novel written by Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha with typical tokens of Romanticism: old castles, night scenery and a romantic complicated plot. It is Mácha's only completed novel.
Plot
The scener ...
'' (Gypsies), and several individual poems, as well as a journal in which, among other things, he detailed his sexual encounters with Šomková.
The ''
Diary of Travel to Italy'' describes his journey to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
,
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
, and
Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...
(where he met the
Slovene national poet
France Prešeren
France Prešeren () (2 or 3 December 1800 – 8 February 1849) was a 19th-century Romantic Slovene poet whose poems have been translated into many languages. ) in 1834. The ''
Secret Diary'' describes his daily life in autumn 1835 with cipher passages concerning his relationship with Eleonora Šomková.
[Karel Hynek Mácha: Deníky. Zápisníky. Korespondence. Prague 1929]
References
External links
*
MayTwisted Spoon Press edition
(alternate translation)
MájCzech online PDF book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macha, Karel Hynek
1810 births
1836 deaths
Writers from Prague
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
Czech poets
Czech male poets
Romantic poets
Poètes maudits
19th-century poets
19th-century male writers
Deaths from pneumonia in Austria-Hungary
Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery