Václav Dobruský ( bg, Вацлав Добруски, ''Vatslav Dobruski''; 11 August 1858 – 24 December 1916) was a Czech archaeologist, epigrapher and numismatist who was mostly active in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. The first director of the National Archaeological Museum of Bulgaria from 1893 to 1910, he is regarded as one of the founding fathers of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

in that country.

Biography

Dobruský was born in the small eastern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n town of Heřmanův Městec (''Hermannstädtel''), then in eastern

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

(today in

Pardubice Region Pardubice Region ( cs, Pardubický kraj; , ; pl, Kraj pardubicki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located mainly in the eastern part of its historical region of Bohemia, with a small part in northwestern Moravia. It ...

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 ...

). He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at

Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

, where he studied

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

and

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 ...

. Upon his graduation, he was invited to newly liberated Eastern Rumelia to work as a teacher. From 1880 to 1886, he taught Latin at the high school in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, the capital of Eastern Rumelia. It was during this time that he began his research on the archaeology of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

and medieval Bulgarian

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. A year after the Bulgarian unification in 1885, Václav Dobruský moved to

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, the capital of the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria ( bg, Княжество България, Knyazhestvo Balgariya) was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ende ...

. Between 1886 and 1893, he was teacher of Latin at the Sofia High School for Boys. From 1890 to 1910, he read lectures on ancient archaeology at what is today Sofia University. In 1893, he was appointed director of the newly established National Archaeological Museum and organized the museum's first exhibitions based on the

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

museums. As an archaeologist, Dobruský personally headed the excavations of the Zlatna Panega ''

asclepieion Asclepieia ( grc, Ἀσκληπιεῖον ''Asklepieion''; Ἀσκλαπιεῖον in Doric dialect; Latin ''aesculapīum'') were healing temples located in ancient Greece (and in the wider Hellenistic and Roman world), dedicated to Asclepius ...

'' in 1903–1906, the Ognyanovo ''

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

'' in 1904 and the ancient cities of

Oescus Oescus, Palatiolon or Palatiolum ( bg, Улпия Ескус, ) was an important ancient city on the Danube river in Roman Moesia. It later became known as ''Ulpia Oescus''. It lay northwest of the modern Bulgarian city of Pleven, near the v ...

(1904–1905) and Nicopolis ad Istrum (1906–1909). These and other discoveries increased the National Archaeological Museum's collection from the initial 343 items and 2,357 coins to 5,504 items and 16,135 coins by 1 February 1910, when Dobruský retired as director of the museum to be replaced by

Bogdan Filov Bogdan Dimitrov Filov ( bg, Богдан Димитров Филов; 10 April 1883 – 1 February 1945) was a Bulgarian archaeologist, art historian and politician. He was prime minister of Bulgaria during World War II. During his tenure, Bulga ...

. In 1907, Dobruský had laid the foundations of Bulgarian archaeology periodicals with his journals on the archaeological museum's findings. He authored over 50 articles on ancient archaeology, epigraphy and history. In 1911, Dobruský returned to Prague. From 1912 to 1914, he taught Latin and Greek

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

at Charles University. From 1916 to his death, he headed the library of the Royal Czech Society of Sciences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobrusky, Vaclav 1858 births 1916 deaths Bulgarian archaeologists Archaeologists from Austria-Hungary Emigrants from Austria-Hungary People from Eastern Rumelia People from Heřmanův Městec Charles University alumni Academic staff of Charles University Czech numismatists Medieval-Bulgarian epigraphers