Václav Bolemír Nebeský (18 August 1818 – 17 August 1882) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

poet active during the

Czech National Revival The Czech National Revival was a cultural movement which took place in the Czech lands during the 18th and 19th centuries. The purpose of this movement was to revive the Czech Czech language, language, culture and national identity. The most pro ...

Biography

Václav Bolemír Nebeský was born at the Nový Dvůr estate in the neighbourhood of

Kokořín Kokořín is a municipality and village in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants. Kokořín is known for the Kokořín Castle. Administrative division Kokořín consists of six munici ...

. He went to high school in

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat of the Roman C ...

. He learned Greek and Latin very well there and this ability helped him to become a translator much later. Then he studied at

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

in Prague. After 1820 he chose to take the typically Czech name of Bolemír. He spent four years in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he worked as a private teacher. When he returned to Prague he continued to be a private educator and worked for the president of the Czech Museum. He cooperated with other important national revival figures, such as Boleslav Jablonský, Josef Kajetán Tyl,

Karel Jaromír Erben Karel Jaromír Erben (; 7 November 1811 – 21 November 1870) was a Czech folklorist and poet of the mid-19th century, best known for his collection '' Kytice'', which contains poems based on traditional and folkloric themes. He also wrote ''Pí ...

Karel Havlíček Borovský Karel Havlíček Borovský (; 31 October 1821 – 29 July 1856) was a Czech writer, poet, critic, politician, journalist, and publisher. Early life and education He lived and studied at the gymnasium in Německý Brod (today Havlíčkův Brod, ...

and Karel Sabina. He also had an intimate relationship with the famous writer Božena Němcová. He was active during the

revolution of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

, known commonly as the Springtime of Nations. He was elected a deputy at the Austrian Parliament. In 1849 he got tenure at the University but never lectured, working as a journalist. Václav Bolemír Nebeský died in Prague in 1882. He was buried at

Vyšehrad cemetery Established in 1869 on the grounds of Vyšehrad Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, the Vyšehrad Cemetery () is the final resting place of many composers, artists, sculptors, writers, and those from the world of science and politics. The center ...

in Prague.

Works

Václav Bolemír Nebeský was a poet and translator. His best-known work is the poem is ''Protichůdci''. The title means "The men, who go in opposite directions". It was published in 1844. The main hero is the

Wandering Jew The Wandering Jew (occasionally referred to as the Eternal Jew, a calque from German ) is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Cruc ...

, Ahasver. He is a man weary of life, who longs for death. The hero is probably a symbol of everyone's endeavour and suffering. The poem is written in trochaic pentameter. Nebeský translated many works by ancient authors, for example

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

, Aischylos,

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...

and

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

. He also published anthologies of Jewish legends in 1881.

References

External links

Protichůdci. Báseň od Václ. Bol. Nebeského, Tisk a sklad Jar. Pospíšila, Praha 1844.

Original poems and translations by Václav Bolemír Nebeský at Czech Wikisource.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nebesky, Vaclav Bolemir 1818 births 1882 deaths People from Mělník District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Old Czech Party politicians Members of the Imperial Diet (Austria) Poets from the Austrian Empire Poets from Austria-Hungary Translators from Greek Translators from Latin Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery Charles University alumni