Josef Matoušek (13 January 1906 – 17 November 1939) was a Czechoslovak historian. He was one of nine people executed by the Nazis for participating in the funeral of the student
Jan Opletal
Jan Opletal (31 December 1914/1 January 1915 – 11 November 1939) was a student of the Medical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, who was shot at a Czechoslovak Independence Day rally on 28 October 1939. He was severely injured at ...
.
Biography
Matoušek was born on 13 January 1906 in
Hořice
Hořice (; ) is a town in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,500 inhabitants.
Administrative division
Hořice consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 censu ...
. He studied under Josef Šusta. His research focused on two periods: the Reformation and early Counter-Reformation, and modern history. He wrote a book, ''The Turkish War in European Politics in the Years 1592–94''. He also published on Karel Sladkovksý, a 19th-century Czech politician. In 1939, he was a
docent
The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...
in 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 ...
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 ...
.
[O. Odložilík (1939–1940). Jan Máchal, Arne Novák, Josef Matoušek. ''The Slavonic Year-Book'' 19 (53/54): 311–315 ]
He was active on the administrative Committee in occupied Czechoslovakia.
In November 1939 he participated in preparations for the funeral of
Jan Opletal
Jan Opletal (31 December 1914/1 January 1915 – 11 November 1939) was a student of the Medical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, who was shot at a Czechoslovak Independence Day rally on 28 October 1939. He was severely injured at ...
, a medical student who died after being injured at a demonstration the previous month.
[Victor-L. Tapié (1971). Le Protectorat de Bohême-Moravie sous l'occupation allemande, 1939-1942 (à propos d'un livre récent). '']Revue Historique
The ''Revue historique'' is a French academic journal founded in 1876 by the Protestant Gabriel Monod and the Catholic Gustave Fagniez. The journal was founded as a reaction against the '' Revue des questions historiques'' created ten years ear ...
'' T. 245, Fasc. 2 (498): 427–442 Matoušek was arrested by the
Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
on 17 November 1939 and was one of nine people to be executed the same day without trial.
[Study.eu Team (2 November 2021)]
17 November: International Students' Day
(accessed 7 June 2022)
See also
*
International Students' Day
International Students' Day is an international observance of the student community, held annually on 17 November. Originally commemorating the Czech universities which were stormed by Nazis in 1939 and the students who were subsequently kille ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matousek, Josef
1906 births
1939 deaths
People from Hořice
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
Czechoslovak historians
Academic staff of Charles University
Czech people executed by Nazi Germany
Recipients of Medal of Heroism (Czech Republic)