Josef Florian

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Josef Florian, around 1930, photo from the family album

Josef Florian (born February 9, 1873 in Stará Říše ; † December 29, 1941 ibid) was a Czech writer, translator and editor and an influential Catholic reformer.

Life

Josef Florian came from a family of a carpenter in Stará Říše near Jihlava . He graduated from secondary school in Telč and worked for a year as a teacher in Kostelní Myslová near Telč. Then he enrolled as a student at the Technical University in Prague . Then he switched to the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University . In 1889 he accepted the post of high school professor of natural history in Náchod .

After reading an essay by Léon Bloy , Florian gave up his position in 1891 and devoted himself entirely to the “ evangelization of society” and the acquisition of new spirituality. In 1902 he went to Mořkov near Nový Jičín where he worked with Karel Dostál-Lutinov in the editorial office of the newspaper Nový život (New Life). After half a year he left the newspaper and went back to Hladov in his parents' house. In 1903 he founded the Dobré dílo publishing house (dt. Good work, lat. Opus bonum) under the motto “The true university of today will be a book collection”. To do this, he contacted Léon Bloy. Dostál-Lutinov said of him: "Florian observes the flow of modern life from his hermit's hut and - spits into it, no, he calls for conversion." In 1911 he was imprisoned and in 1913 returned to his parents' house. His family, wife and 12 children, were integrated into his cultural and missionary work.

Under great privation, Florian translated 60 works and published European literature in Czech. For example, the first Czech edition of Kafka books ( The Metamorphosis - a bibliophile masterpiece), poetry by Georg Trakl and Rainer Maria Rilke , works by Paul Claudel , Charles Péguy , Georges Bernanos , Francis Jammes , Tristan Corbière , Paul Valéry , Sherwood Anderson , William Butler Yeats , Gilbert Keith Chesterton, et al. a.

The first Czech translations of philosophical works by Gabriel Marcel , Jacques Maritain , Leo Isaakowitsch Schestow , Max Scheler and Maurice Blondel were published by Dobré dílo . The graphic designers Josef Florian worked with for the bibliographically interesting editions included Bohuslav Reynek , Josef Váchal , Josef Čapek and his own children such as Michael Florian (1911–1984).

In 1941 Florian fell seriously ill. He died on December 29th of that year.

Works

From 1903 to 1941 he published 387 publications:

  • Anthology of studies (1903-1912) has 50 volumes,
  • Anthology Nova et Vetera (1912–1921) 50 volumes,
  • Anthology Dobré dílo (Good Work, 1922–1941) 150 volumes,
  • Anthology Kursy (courses 1922–1941) 51 volumes,
  • Anthology Archy (Archen 1926–1941) 65 volumes.

Josef Florian translated 53 books, of which he published 51 himself.

Remarks

  1. ↑ I'll get up again! Or Dobré dílo by Josef Florian, in: In the heart of Europe 6/2008, Pardubice 2008, pp. 12–15, 13

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Florian, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Hladov
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 1941
Place of death Stará Říše