Friedrich Adler (13 February 1857 – 2 February 1938) 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, ...

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

jurist, translator, and writer of Jewish origin, writing in the German language.

Biography

Friedrich Adler was born in Kosova Hora. He was the son of innkeeper and soaper Joseph Adler, and his wife Marie Fürth. After his parents' death (probably in 1866), Adler was only able to attend school in Amschelberg irregularly. Despite this, he was admitted to a gymnasium in Prague, and to the Karl-Ferdinands University 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 ...

. There, he studied

Romance studies Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...

, English, Czech, and modern Greek. He later changed subjects and studied law and politics. During his studies, Adler received an award for his translation of a poem by

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely tran ...

in a competition. He finished his studies in 1883 with a doctorate in law. After his studies he completed a legal clerkship in 1890. In the same year he was licensed to become a lawyer and opened a law office on 1 January 1891 in Prague. In March 1895 he married Regine Wessely from

Třebíč Třebíč (; german: Trebitsch; yi, טרייביטש Treybitsh) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. The beginnings of the town's history are connected with the establishment of a Benedictine ...

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 m ...

. They had two daughters: Marie-Elise and Gertrude. In 1896, Adler became the secretary of the Prague trade body (which office he held until the start of World War I). He was also a lecturer for Romance

philology 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 ...

at the German University in Prague and arts and theatre correspondent for the newspaper ''Bohemia''. From 1900 he taught Spanish at the German trade academy in Prague. After the First World War, Adler headed the translation department of the Czech National Assembly. He was elected a member of the Society for the Promotion of German Sciences, Arts and Literature in Bohemia and was a prominent figure of the Prague literature scene at the turn of the century, alongside

Hugo Salus Hugo Salus (3 August 1866 in Česká Lípa – 4 February 1929 in Prague) was a Bohemian doctor, writer and poet. Life Salus studied medicine in Prague and established a practice in gynaecology there from 1895 onwards. Apart from his prof ...

. He was a member of the patriotic-liberal oriented German artists society Concordia, which met in the "Deutscher Casino"; in addition to himself and Salus, the society included writers of the ''Bohemia''. Adler corresponded with

Richard Dehmel Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (18 November 1863 – 8 February 1920) was a German poet and writer. Life A forester's son, Richard Dehmel was born in Hermsdorf near Wendisch Buchholz (now a part of Münchehofe) in the Brandenburg Province, Ki ...

and

Gustav Falke Gustav Falke (11 January 1853 – 8 February 1916) was a German writer. Life Falke was born in Lübeck to merchant Johann Friedrich Christian Falke and his wife Elisabeth Franziska Hoyer. The historians Johannes and were his uncles, and the t ...

, amongst others. Friedrich Adler died at the age of 81 on 2 February 1938 in Prague. His family were victims of the Nazi regime: Regine Adler was murdered in 1943 in the

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination ca ...

, the path of his daughter could only be traced up to 1943 in

Zamość Zamość (; yi, זאמאשטש, Zamoshtsh; la, Zamoscia) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021. ...

, Poland. He is buried at the New Jewish Cemetery in

Smíchov Smíchov () is (since 1909) a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet ta ...

, Prague.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Friedrich 1857 births 1938 deaths Czech translators Czech male writers Czech Jews Academic staff of Charles University Jewish Austrian writers People from Příbram District Writers from Austria-Hungary