Josef Kalousek

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Josef Kalousek

Josef Kalousek (born April 2, 1838 in Vamberk , † November 22, 1915 in Prague ) was a Czech historian and university professor.

Life

Josef Kalousek came from a poor farming family in Wamberg (Reichenau district) in Eastern Bohemia in the Austrian Empire . After elementary school, he began an apprenticeship as a weaver in Vamberg , initially working in this profession, graduating from an upper secondary school in Prague from 1853 to 1859 and graduating from high school . From 1859 to 1861 he studied at the Polytechnic in Prague and moved to the Imperial and Royal Polytechnic Institute in Vienna . There he won an award for the best stylistic work with a typeface.

Returning to Prague, he began to study philosophy , linguistics , journalism, Slavic philology and, above all, history in Bohemia under Professor Anton Gindely and Václav Vladivoj Tomek at the Charles University in Prague . During his studies he translated for Prague newspapers. In Prague he lived with František Ladislav Rieger's family and there he met František Palacký , whose granddaughter he taught. In 1868 he received his doctorate in philosophy, became a private lecturer in Bohemian history in 1871 and worked as a secondary school teacher in Prague.

His knowledge of Czech history and the conclusions he drew from it led him from 1880 to 1882 as a member of the Bohemian state parliament, in which he represented the party of the Národní strana (Old Bohemia, Staročeši). In 1882 he was appointed associate professor and in 1885 full professor of Bohemian history at the Charles University in Prague , which was established in 1882 and where he taught until 1908.

In 1887 Josef Kalousek became one of the first members of the "Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts", of which he was secretary until 1890, and became one of the leading Czech historians before the First World War (1914-1918). He wrote one of the first memoirs about František Palacký , continued his work, belonged to a research group for historical collections and edited for various magazines. The Czech national movement had a great influence on him since the middle of the 19th century. He was a member of the editorial staff of the party newspaper of the Old Bohemia: The Nation (Národ), in which he published articles against the centralism and dualism of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy , and participated in some polemics about the older Czech historiography.

In the disputes about the authenticity of the Königinhof manuscript and the Grünberger manuscript , Josef Kalousek stood at the side of those who supported their authenticity, such as Václav Vladivoj Tomek , Josef Emler and Martin Hattala . The style of his work was influenced by his teachers Anton Gindely and Vaclav Vladivoj Tomek. He was particularly interested in the events of the Hussite period and the historical situation around the battle of the White Mountain .

Of the Western philosophers, he was already preoccupied with Immanuel Kant's thoughts on the perception of God during his student days . He dealt with the views of Johann Friedrich Herbarts , the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill and the positivism of Henry Thomas Buckle . Towards the end of his life he represented the interpretation of Catholicism of Bernard Bolzano .

When Czech scholars were hoping for a constitutional settlement with the Austrian government, similar to the Austro-Hungarian settlement (1867), his most important work was published in 1871: Czech Constitutional Law (České státní právo, 1871). In this publication he points out that the crown land of Bohemia has always been an independent, internationally recognized state structure and never a real fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire . He was a defender and champion of Czech constitutional law and opposed the judgments of German historians.

Throughout his life he believed that history is the teachers of life based on generations of experience. According to Josef Kalousek, certain developments in science and society can be predicted on the basis of historical analogies compared with the respective situation. As far as the history of a Czech state is concerned, he represented the views of Frantisek Palacky on the constant encounter between the Slavs and the Teutons in Central Europe with the significance of the shifting of settlement and language borders.

Josef Kalousek had his son Vratislav Kalousek (born December 11, 1883 in Prague; † August 5, 1936 there), worked as a lawyer at the Prague Lieutenancy since 1909 after studying at the Charles University in Prague, and after 1910 at the district administration in Jungbunzlau , since 1918 in the Prague Interior Ministry, most recently as Ministerialrat u. a. as a contributor to the manual for public law in Czechoslovakia .

Publications

Bibliography in German

  • Some basics of Czech constitutional law . Prague 1871.
  • The treatment of the history of Přemysl Otakar II. In: Ottokar Lorenz (* 1832 in Iglau; † 1904 in Jena): German historical sources in the Middle Ages from the middle of the 13th to the end of the 14th century. Prague 1870, 1886/1887.
  • History of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences; with a critical overview of their publications in the fields of philosophy, history and philology, written by Josef Kalousek on the occasion of the centenary celebration of the Society in 1884 on their behalf. Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences and Arts, Prague 1884.

Bibliography in Czech

  • České státní právo, Prague (1892)
  • Nástin životopisu Františka Palackého (1876)
  • Karel IV. , Otec vlasti (1878)
  • Děje Královské České společnosti nauk (1885)
  • Tři historické mapy k dějinám českým (1885)
  • Výklad k historické mapě Čech (1894)
  • O vůdčích myšlenkách v historickém díle Františka Palackého (1896)
  • Obrana knížete Václava Svatého proti smyšlenkám a křivým úsudkům o jeho povaze (1901)
  • O potřebě prohloubiti vědomosti o Husovi a jeho době (1915)

Magazine articles

  • O historii výtvarného umění v Čechách (1877)
  • O zřízení a původu obce velkoruské (1880)
  • O historii kalicha v dobách předhusitských, Výroční školní zpráva nižšího reálného gymnasia v Praze III, 1881
  • Jan z Jenštejna - archiepiscopus Pragensis (1882)
  • History a materialism (1883)
  • O staročeském právě dědickém a královském právě odúmrtním na statcích svobodných v Čechách iv Moravě (1894)
  • Řády selské a instrukce hospodářské, Český Archives, volume. 5.

biography

  • Josef Pekař : Josef Kalousek . Czech historical magazine 22/1916
  • Otakar Josek: Život a dílo Josefa Kalouska . Prague 1922

literature

  • Heribert Sturm : Biographical lexicon on the history of the Bohemian countries. Published on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) , Volume II, R. Oldenbourg Verlag Munich 1984, ISBN 3-486-52551-4 , p. 93 Josef Kalousek and Vratislav Kalousek
  • Ottuv slovnik naucny (OSN) 1 (1888) - 28 (1909); 13 and 28
  • Ottuv slovnik naucny nove doby (OSN ND) I (1930) - VI (1943); III, 1
  • Masarykuv slovnik naucny 1 (1925) - 7 (1933); 3
  • Wiener Zeitung (Abendpost) from November 23, 1915

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kalousek, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech historian
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Vamberk
DATE OF DEATH November 22, 1915
Place of death Prague