Václav Hanka (also written as ''Wenceslaus Hanka'') (10 June 1791 – 12 January 1861) was a Czech

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Biography

Hanka was born at

Hořiněves Hořiněves is a municipality and village in Hradec Králové District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Jeřičky, Želkovice and Žíželeves are administrative ...

near Hradec Králové. He was sent in 1807 to school at Hradec Králové, to escape the conscription, then to the University of Prague, where he founded a society for the cultivation of the Czech language. At

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

, where he afterwards studied law, he established a Czech periodical; and in 1813 he made the acquaintance of Josef Dobrovský, an eminent philologist. On 16 September 1817 Hanka claimed that he had discovered some manuscripts of 13th- and 14th-century Bohemian poems in the church tower of the town of Dvůr Králové nad Labem and later some more at

Zelená Hora Castle Zelená Hora (literally "Green Mountain") is a castle in Klášter in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It is located on an eponymous mountains, close to the town of Nepomuk. History The castle was first mentioned in a deed of Ottokar II o ...

near

Nepomuk Nepomuk (; german: Pomuk) is a town in Plzeň-South District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,700 inhabitants. It is known as the birthplace of Saint John of Nepomuk, who was born here around 1340 and whose statue can be ...

. The ''

Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora The Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora manuscripts ( cs, Rukopis královédvorský, RK, and ''Rukopis zelenohorský, RZ'', german: Königinhofer Handschrift and ''Grünberger Handschrift'') are literary hoaxes purporting to be epic Slavic manuscri ...

'' were made public in 1818, with a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

translation by Swoboda. The originals were presented by him to newly founded

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

at Prague, of which he was appointed librarian in the same year. Great doubt, however, was felt as to their genuineness, and Dobrovský, by pronouncing the latter manuscript (also known as ''The Judgment of

Libuše , Libussa, Libushe or, historically ''Lubossa'', is a legendary ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty and the Czech people as a whole. According to legend, she was the youngest but wisest of three sisters, who became queen after their father died; s ...

''), to be an obvious fraud, confirmed the suspicion. Some years afterwards Dobrovský saw fit to modify his decision, but modern Czech scholars regard the manuscript as a

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

. A translation into English, ''The Manuscript of the Queen's Court'', was made by

Albert Henry Wratislaw Albert Henry Wratislaw (5 November 1822 – 3 November 1892) was an English clergyman and Slavonic scholar of Czech descent. Early life Albert Henry Wratislaw was born 5 November 1822 in Rugby, the eldest son of William Ferdinand Wratislaw (1788 ...

in 1852. In 1846 Hanka edited the ''

Reims Gospel Reims Gospel ( French: ''Texte du Sacre'' which means "coronation text"; also referred to in some Czech sources as the ''Emmaus Evangelie'' or ''Remešský kodex'') is an illuminated manuscript of Slavonic (Slavic) origin which became part of the ...

'' and made it available to the general public, for which he received the cross of the

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

by the Tsar Nicholas I and a brilliant ring by Emperor Ferdinand I. In 1848 Hanka, who was an ardent

pan-Slavist Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled ...

, took part at the

Prague Slavic Congress, 1848 The Prague Slavic Congress of 1848 ( cs, Slovanský sjezd, ) took place in Prague between 2 June and 12 June 1848. It was the first occasion on which voices from nearly all Slav populations of Europe were heard in one place. Several other Slavic ...

and other peaceful national demonstrations, being the founder of the political society ' ("Slavonic Linden"). He was elected to the Imperial Diet at Vienna, but declined to take his seat. In the winter of 1848 he became lecturer and in 1849 professor of

Slavonic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto ...

in the University of Prague. He died in Prague on 12 January 1861.

Works

His chief works and editions are the following: *''Hankowy Pjsne'' (Prague, 1815), a volume of poems *''Starobyla Skiadani'' (1817–1826), in 5 vols, a collection of old Bohemian poems, chiefly from unpublished manuscripts *''A Short History of the Slavonic Peoples'' (1818) *''A Bohemian Grammar'' (1822) *''A Polish Grammar'' (1839) (these two grammars were composed on a plan suggested by Dobrovský) *''Igor'' (1821), an ancient

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n epic, with a translation into Bohemian *a part of the Gospels from the

Reims manuscript Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

in the Glagolitic alphabet (1846) *the old Bohemian ''Chronicles of Delimit'' (1848) *''History of Charles IV'', by Procop Luph (1848) *''Evangelium Ostromis'' (1853) *Hanka also composed the song Moravo, Moravo!, sometimes used as a

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

Biography

Works

Notes

Further reading