František Matouš Klácel

František Klácel ( Jan Vilímek 1882)

František Matouš Klácel (pseudonym František Třebovský , abroad Ladimír Klácel, Matouš František Klácel ; born April 7, 1808 in Česká Třebová ; † March 17, 1882 in Belle Plaine , Iowa ) was a Czech poet, journalist and philosopher, representative of the Bohemian Moravian unity. He was one of the leading enlighteners in Moravia and an active participant in political events in the revolutionary period from 1848 to 1849 . A street in the Masarykova čtvrť district of Brno was named after him. On the building at Mendlovo Náměstí No. 1 in Brno there is a plaque with his portrait of Milada Othová .

Life

Born into a shoemaker family, he first attended primary school in Třebová, then until 1825 the high school in Litomyšl , where he was taught by Bonifác Buzek , and later philosophy . In 1827 he went to the Augustinian monastery in Brno , where he took his middle name Matouš , and studied at the Theological Institute until 1832.

He was ordained a priest in 1833. Further studies at the Palacký University in Olomouc followed . In 1835 he was appointed professor of philosophy at the episcopal philosophical institute in Brno.

Klácel took up the values ​​of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and tried to develop these ideas further in the direction of humanity and humanity . Because of his free-thinking views and the suspicion of Pan-Slavism , his professorship was revoked after nine years. He went to Prague and worked as a librarian there, but kept in touch with members of the patriotic movement .

After short stays in Leipzig and Dresden , he stayed in Liběchov for a long time . He organized the castle library, began to write more intensively and worked with the sculptor Václav Levý to design the Klácelka Cave .

In 1845 he returned to Brno. Together with Jan Ohéral, he founded the first Czech newspaper in Moravia: Das Wochenblatt (Týdeník). In 1848 he involuntarily returned to Prague. Kácel was elected to the National Committee (Národní výbor) and participated as a delegate at the Slav Congress . After the suppression of the uprising, he returned to Brno.

From 1848 to 1851 he published the Moravian newspaper (Moravské noviny). In 1849 he participated in the establishment of the National Unity of Saints Cyril and Methodius , which in 1855 was renamed Matice Moravská . He founded a second association of intellectuals. With this society his ideas about the all-human brotherhood should be implemented. The Czech-Moravian Brotherhood had prominent members, including Jan Ivan Helcelet , Hynek Hanuš , Božena Němcová .

After the failure of his plans, he became estranged, and the time between the appearance of his posts grew longer and longer. His interests were now the monastery garden and private lessons. After allegations of abuse of his protégés, he thought more and more about emigrating to the USA . In a society, so his idea, in which he can realize his values ​​and live a free life in equality.

In 1869 he left Bohemia and emigrated to Iowa City in the USA . He published the magazine Der American Slawe (Slovan amerikánský) here, joined the free-thinker unity and published a second magazine, The Voice (Hlas, 1872). He went to Chicago and moved Svojan there . He also worked as a translator and published popular scientific books. He tried to found a sect with other compatriots , the content of which should be the love of the people for one another and their good deeds. The members referred to themselves as brothers and sisters and infallible. However, over time his disappointment with American reality grew and he ran into financial difficulties. In order for his work to continue, charity events were organized by his supporters, albeit with moderate success. They did not have a lasting effect. Klácel died impoverished and was buried in Belle Plaine. His compatriots built a memorial to him in the Czech cemetery in Chicago.

His poetic first works were inspired by antiquity . The patriot and free thinker Klácel used the form of the fable to represent the society of the time. In addition, he edited newspapers, published encyclopedias , was the author of many poetic and philosophical works, natural scientist, journalist, unselfish and benevolent person. At the same time he carried out historical and biological research.

Works

poetry

• Lyric Poems (Lyrické Básně), 1836
• Poems (Básně), 1837

Poetry

• Reinecke Fuchs (Ferina lišák), 1845 - treatise of Goethe's animal poses .
• Bidpai's Fables (Bajky Bidpajovy), 1846 and 1850 - two books, part 1 was published under his pseudonym František Třebovský . He uses the satirical animal allegory to criticize the society of that time.
• Strawberries from the Slavic Forests (Jahůdky ze slovanských lesů), 1845, published under the pseudonym Jan Petr Jordan
• Friends to girlfriend sheets on the origins of socialism and communism (list přítele k přítelkyni o původu socialismu a komunismu) - letters addressed to Božena Němcová , in which he presents her with a theory about French utopian socialism.

Specialist literature

• Cosmopolitanism and the patriotic movement with a particular focus on Moravia (Cosmopolitanism a vlastenectví s obzvláštním ohledem na Moravu)
• The beginnings of scientific Czech language teaching - the first systematic Czech attempt at the philosophy of language (Počátky vědeckého mluvnictví českého - první český soustavný pokus o filosofii řeči)
• Dictionary for newspaper readers (Slovník pro čtenáře novin, v němž se vysvětlují slova cizího púvodu), 1849
• Beginning of the scientific Czech language (Počátky vědecké mluvnictví českého)
• Dobrověda

In German language

• Explanations of the more important philosophical expressions - Výklad nejdůležitějších filosofických výrazů.
• World Contemplation (Světozor) - general thoughts devoted to questions of nature

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Klácel, Franz . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 12th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1864, p. 1 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Klácel P. Matouš (František). In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 3, Publishing House of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1965, p. 362 f. (Direct links on p. 362 , p. 363 ).
• Zora Dvořáková : František Matouš Klácel . Prague 1976.