Jakub Josef Dominik Malý, pseudonyms: ''Budislav'', ''Václav Pravda'' and ''K.Z.'' (4 August 1811 – 7 March 1885) was a Czech historian, writer and journalist.

Life and work

Malý was born on 4 August 1811 in

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 ...

. The son of a middle-class family, he graduated from the philosophical and law faculties 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 ...

. He was influenced by the teachings of Ignaz Cornova,

Bernard Bolzano Bernard Bolzano (, ; ; ; born Bernardus Placidus Johann Nepomuk Bolzano; 5 October 1781 – 18 December 1848) was a Bohemian mathematician, logician, philosopher, theologian and Catholic priest of Italian extraction, also known for his liberal ...

and

Josef Jungmann Josef Jungmann (16 July 1773 – 14 November 1847) was a Czech linguist and poet, and a leading figure of the Czech National Revival. Together with Josef Dobrovský, he is considered to be a creator of the modern Czech language. The literary aw ...

, moved in patriotic and literary circles, and occasionally served as a tutor for noble families. During the

Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire The revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire took place from March 1848 to November 1849. Much of the revolutionary activity had a nationalism, nationalist character: the Austrian Empire, ruled from Vienna, included ethnic Germans, Hungarians, ...

, he entered politics and became a Conservative member of the . As a supporter of 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 ...

and

pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement that took shape in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with promoting integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled the South ...

, tempered by distrust of the Russians, he emphasized the importance of the Czech language Manuscript of Zelená Hora, supposedly dating from the 8th century, which became a major symbol for the nationalist movement. During the 1830s, he published articles and opinions in numerous conservative patriotic newspapers, and helped Jungmann to create his German-Czech dictionary. He also wrote poetry and some drama. From 1835 to 1844, he edited the ''Knihovna Populární Literatury'' (Library of Popular Literature), which included translations from foreign authors. Toward the end of the 1850s, he was employed by František Ladislav Rieger, as an editor for his Czech national cyclopedia, ''Slovník naučný''. Among his major works were ''National Bohemian Tales and Legends'' (Národní české pohádky a pověsti), ''History of the Czech Nation for Readers of all Classes'' (Dějepis národu českého pro čtenáře každého stavu) and his ''Memoirs and Reflections of an Old Patriot'' (Vzpomínky a úvahy starého vlastence). He also translated eleven plays by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and was the first to translate

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

into Czech. He died on 7 March 1885 in Prague, at the age of 73.

Sources

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External links

Works by and about Malý
@ 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:Maly, Jakub 1811 births 1885 deaths Czech people from Austria-Hungary Journalists from the Austrian Empire Journalists from Austria-Hungary Historians from Austria-Hungary Czech nationalists Writers from Prague