František Vladislav Hek

Statue of Hek in Dobruška

František Vladislav Hek (born April 11, 1769 in Dobruška , † September 4, 1847 in Kyšperk ) was a Czech patriotic poet and publicist . He served the writer Alois Jirásek as a model for his main character in his five-volume historical novel FL Věk .

Life

The son of a merchant attended school in his hometown, left it in 1779 and finished primary school in Prague in 1782 . In Prague he then attended the Piarist high school , where he came into contact with the patriotic movement for the first time . In the mid-1780s he returned to his birthplace and took over his father's retail business, where he gradually lent out daily goods as well as Czech newspapers and books and later became the external representative of the Česká expedice publishing house . By 1806 he collected over 3,284 writings, including philosophical, natural history and historical works. Although he also tried to set up a Czech theater, this was forbidden to him by the authorities. May 9, 1806 burned down his prosperous business, the next blow came in 1811 during the national bankruptcy of the Austrian monarchy . From 1806 he lived in Dobruška with chaplain Josef Liboslav Ziegler . Hek became a long-time friend and fighter for Hek in his work for the Czech cause. His wife, with whom he had been married since 1792, died in 1821. Hek sold his property and left Dobruška. and went to Herrnhut . He spent the last years of his life with his daughter Ludmila Štolovská in Kyšperk (now Letohrad).

Works

Most of the publications appeared in the early 19th century. He publishes mostly satirical epigrams . In 1820 his best known work The Great Friday (Veliký pátek) appeared. He had to answer in court and the writing was confiscated. During his stay in Herrnhut, he translated old Czech writings into German for Czech exiles. Hek also began composing in the 1830s and 1840s.

Web links

• Literature by and about František Vladislav Hek in the catalog of the German National Library
• Hek Museum in Dobruška