Ferdinand Břetislav Mikovec (14 December 1826, Sloup v Čechách – 22 September 1862,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a Czech writer, publisher, historian, theatre critic and nationalist.

Life and work

His father was the administrator of a manor house, and died while Ferdinand was still very young. After attending primary school in

Česká Lípa Česká Lípa (; ) is a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 37,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated Czech town without city status. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monume ...

, he went to Prague in 1842, to study philosophy. Later, he studied art and art history 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 ...

. Although he had been raised in a German-speaking environment, he became interested in Czech history and 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 ...

. In 1848, he was deeply involved in the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

and was forced to flee to

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when it was suppressed. When it was safe to travel, he went to Leipzig, where he studied the life of

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...

. In 1851, he was able to return to Prague and established the literary magazine, '' Lumír''. He would occasionally provide copies of works by Czech artists to his readers, as a bonus. He also contributed to the completion of St. Vitus Cathedral, published a monograph on Karlštejn castle, and initiated the creation of an art and literary association known as "Arkadia". He became its first Chairman and organized an exhibition of Czech art, which took place in 1861. Today, he is largely remembered for his efforts to establish a Czech national theatre; writing criticism and dramas and serving on the committee for the construction of the National Theatre. He suffered from a

congenital heart defect A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly, congenital cardiovascular malformation, and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital h ...

, which worsened in 1862. His mother came to help nurse him through his illness, but he died of it a few months later. A major work on Czech monuments was left unfinished. In 1911, when the cemetery where he was interred was demolished, his remains were returned to his hometown.

Sources

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External links

Works by and about Mikovec
@ the

National Library of the Czech Republic The National Library of the Czech Republic () is the central library of the Czech Republic. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture (Czech Republic), Ministry of Culture. The library's main building is located in the historical Clementinum buil ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikovec, Ferdinand Bretislav 1826 births 1862 deaths Czech writers Historians from the Austrian Empire Czech publishers (people) Czech nationalists Czech dramatists and playwrights Czech art historians People from Česká Lípa District Charles University alumni