Karel Václav Škorpil (; 15 May 18599 March 1944) 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 *Czech (surnam ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

worker credited along with his brother Hermann with the establishment of those two disciplines in Bulgaria. Born in the city of

Vysoké Mýto Vysoké Mýto (; , also ''Hohenmauth'') is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. Its town square is the largest example of its type in the country. The historic town ...

(then ''Hohenmauth'' in

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 ...

, now part of

Ústí nad Orlicí District Ústí nad Orlicí District () is a Okres, district in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Ústí nad Orlicí, but the most populated town is Česká Třebová. Administrative division Ústí nad Orlicí District ...

Pardubice Region Pardubice Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located mainly in the eastern part of its historical region of Bohemia, with a small part in northwestern Moravia. It is named after its capital Pardubice. As an administrat ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

) on 15 May 1859, he finished high school in

Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

before graduating from the

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 ...

and the

Technical University An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

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 ...

. In 1881, he moved to what was then

Eastern Rumelia Eastern Rumelia (; ; ) was an autonomous province (''oblast'' in Bulgarian, ''vilayet'' in Turkish) of the Ottoman Empire with a total area of , which was created in 1878 by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Treaty of Berlin and ''de facto'' ...

( since 1885 united with the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria () was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed ...

) to work as a high-school teacher in the Bulgarian cities of

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

(1882-1886),

Sliven Sliven ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of th ...

(1886-1888),

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

(1888-1890, 1894-1915) and

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

(1890-1894). Since 1894, Karel settled permanently in the port city of Varna on the

Bulgarian Black Sea Coast The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (), also known as the Bulgarian Riviera, covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of ...

, where he founded the Varna Archeological Society in 1901 and the

Varna Archaeological Museum The Varna Archaeological Museum (, ''Varnenski arheologicheski muzey'') is an archaeological museum in the city of Varna on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. Founded on 3 June 1888, when a museum, part of the City Library was established, the Varn ...

in 1906, of which he was the director from 1915 to his death. He was also a teacher and lecturer at the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

and the trade school. As a young teacher, Karel Škorpil came to be interested in archeology. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he published around 150 works, whether as the sole author or in collaboration with his brother, including 30 in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

, primarily devoted to Bulgaria. He discovered and headed the excavations of the medieval Bulgarian castles at

Pliska Pliska ( , ) was the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the Middle Ages and is now List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a small town in Shumen Province, on the Ludogorie plateau of the Danubian Plain (Bulgaria), Danubian Plain, 20 ...

Preslav The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav (, ), former Preslav (; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new Bulgarian: ''obshtina''), which in turn is part of Shumen P ...

and Madara. He also unearthed the prehistoric

stilt house Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on Stilts (architecture), stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they als ...

s in

Lake Varna Lake Varna (, ) is the largest by volume and deepest liman or lake along the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, divided from the sea by a 2 km-wide strip of sand and having an area of 19 km2, maximal depth 19 m, and a volume of 166 million m3. ...

, among others. A member of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

and the Bulgarian Archeological Institute, he died in Varna on 9 March 1944 and was buried among the ruins of the old Bulgarian capital Pliska. All research by the Škorpil brothers was self-funded, and all unearthed monuments have been preserved in Bulgaria. The street in Varna where their house is located, and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

village and

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

Shkorpilovtsi, were named after the brothers.

Škorpil Glacier Škorpil Glacier (, ) is the 12 km long and 10 km wide glacier on Pernik Peninsula, Loubet Coast on the west side of Antarctic Peninsula, situated northeast of Stefan Ice Piedmont and W of Solun Glacier. It drains the north slopes of ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Karel Škorpil.

Major works

* ''Monuments across Bulgaria'' (1888, co-author) * ''Mounds'' (1898, co-author) * ''

Władysław Warneńczyk Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: People Mononym * Włodzis ...

'' (1923, co-author) * ''AbobaPliska'' (1905) * ''Monuments from the capital Preslav'' (1930)

References

* * http://www.skat.bg/products.php?type=10&genre=3303- "Час по България": Пламен Павлов, гост Павел Георгиев (Карел Шкорпил - патриархът на българската археология) {{DEFAULTSORT:Skorpil, Karel Bulgarian archaeologists 20th-century Bulgarian historians 1859 births 1944 deaths People from Vysoké Mýto People from Varna, Bulgaria Charles University alumni Bulgarian people of Czech descent Czech Technical University in Prague alumni Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the Ottoman Empire Historians from Austria-Hungary