Enrique Stanko Vráz
Enrique Stanko Vráz , also German: Enrik Stanko Vráz , (born February 18 and April 8, 1860 in Veliko Tarnowo , Bulgaria ; † February 20, 1932 in Prague ) was a Czech explorer .
Life
Vráz's origins have never been revealed. Both the date of birth is not known exactly and is based on various unconfirmed information from Vráz himself, occasionally his place of birth is also given as Tarnów in Poland. There is also only speculation about his parents: his father is said to have been a Russian officer (or diplomat), perhaps a Polish or Bulgarian, his mother a Czech. He even changed his name Enrique Stanko Vráz several times and is believed to have been invented by him. He is said to be the missing poet Karel Ilichman , but also a Count Kolowrat or an illegitimate son from the Thurn and Taxis family .
Vráz began his travels at the age of 20. After a trip to Morocco between 1880 and 1883, he crossed the Sahara towards the Gambia River by the end of 1885 . In 1886/87 Vráz explored the coastal area of Sierra Leone , Liberia , Ghana and the Gold Coast
From 1889 Vráz turned to the exploration of Central and South America . He first traveled to the islands of Guadeloupe , Martinique and Trinidad in order to move on to Venezuela from there. The years 1892/93 were then dedicated to the exploration of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers as well as an Andes crossing that flowed to the Pacific coast.
The next region Vráz 'toured was Asia, where from 1895 he explored Japan , Central China , Indonesia , Indochina , Java , Bali , Lombok , Celebes , New Guinea , Borneo and Aden and from there returned to Bohemia.
Two years later, Vráz moved to Central America again, where he climbed the Popocatepetl volcano .
In 1900 a migration from China, Manchuria and Korea followed, which ended in Vladivostok , the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway . After a trip across Lake Baikal , Vráz returned to America in 1903, where he visited numerous cities on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, and then traveled again to Mexico and the Central American land bridge.
Vráz's merit lies in the geographical and ethnographic exploration of large parts of the world.
literature
- Fernand Salentiny: The lexicon of sailors and discoverers , Horst Erdmann Verlag for international cultural exchange, Tübingen 1974.
- E. St. Vráz stále ještě záhadný (E. St. Vráz still mysterious), biography of the scientific journal Vesmír, online at: www.vesmir.cz , Czech, accessed on August 5, 2011
Web links
- Literature by and about Enrique Stanko Vráz in the catalog of the German National Library
- Literature and other media by and about Enrique Stanko Vráz in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic
- Report at Radio Praha (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vráz, Enrique Stanko |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vráz, Enrik Stanko; Vráz, Enrik |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czech explorer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 18, 1860 or April 8, 1860 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Veliko Tarnovo |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 20, 1932 |
| Place of death | Prague |