Josef Václav Frič (5 September 1829 – 14 October 1890) was a Czech poet, journalist and radical democrat

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

. He was a participant in the

revolution of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

Life

When he was still in high school, he joined the illegal activities of the radical democrats. He had to flee from Prague (1846) and worked in Paris and London, among the Polish emigrants. In 1847, he returned to Prague and joined the secret society ''Repeal''. In June 1848, Repeal launched an

armed struggle War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organiz ...

. Frič organized fighting on the barricades. After the defeat of the rebellion he fled to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, then to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and later he joined the Slovak revolutionary army of

Ľudovít Štúr Ľudovít Štúr (; 28 October 1815 – 12 January 1856), also known as Ľudovít Velislav Štúr, was a Slovak revolutionary, politician, and writer. As a leader of the Slovak nationalism, Slovak national revival in the 19th century and the c ...

. In Slovakia he was seriously wounded. In 1849, after an amnesty in Austria, he returned to Prague. He formed a new radical democratic organization ''Českomoravské bratrstvo'' (''Bohemian-Moravian Brotherhood''). During preparations for a new rebellion he was arrested. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison in

Komárno Komárno (, , ), colloquially also called ''Révkomárom'', ''Öregkomárom'', ''Észak-Komárom'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian, is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers. Historically it was formed by the "old ...

. In 1854, he was released and lived in Prague under police supervision. Barred from political activity, he joined the literary life and helped to create the almanac ''

Máj ''Máj'' (Czech language, Czech for the month ''May''; ; usually ''květen'') is a Romantic poetry, romantic poem by Karel Hynek Mácha in four cantos. It was fiercely criticized when first published, but since then has gained the status of one o ...

'', in which he announced a new generation of poets, with

Jan Neruda Jan Nepomuk Neruda (Czech: �jan ˈnɛpomuk ˈnɛruda 10 July 1834 – 22 August 1891) was a Czech journalist, writer, poet and art critic; one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the " May School". Early li ...

as their leader. However, in 1858 he was arrested again and sent into exile in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. In 1859 he was allowed to emigrate, subsequently living in London and Paris. In exile he founded the magazines ''Čech'' and ''Blaník''. In 1879, he was allowed to return to Prague. The new political situation for him was unintelligible, so he focused only on literature and writing memoirs. He was one of the few Czech politicians of the 19th century to demand a break from

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. He worked closely with the radical democrats in other countries ( Mierosławski, Herzen,

Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, so ...

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

, Kossuth). His most important literary work is the patriotic poem ''The Vampire'' (1849).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fric, Josef Vaclav 1829 births 1890 deaths Poets from Austria-Hungary Journalists from Austria-Hungary Writers from Prague 19th-century Czech poets Czech politicians Czech male poets Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery Czech revolutionaries