Karel Škorpil

Karel Škorpi

Bust of Karel Škorpil in the Varna Archaeological Museum, which he founded

Karel Škorpil's grave in Pliska

Karel Václav Škorpil ( Bulgarian Карел Вацлав Шкорпил ; German Karel Wazlaw Schkorpil; born May 15, 1859 in Vysoké Mýto , Bohemia ; † March 9, 1944 in Varna , Bulgaria ) was a Czech-Bulgarian archaeologist . Karel Škorpil is considered the founder of modern Bulgarian archeology together with his brother Hermenegild Škorpil (better known as Hermann Škorpil ). Vladislav Škorpil and Josef Škorpil are also his brothers.

biography

Konstantin Jireček had a decisive influence on the future career of Škorpils . After studying mathematics at Charles University in Prague, Karel Škorpil worked as a high school teacher for mathematics in Plovdiv (1882–1886), Sliven (1886–1888), Varna (1888–1890 and 1894–1915), Russe and Veliko Tarnowo ( 1890-1894). He also taught for a time at the Naval Academy and the Academy of Economics in Varna.

Karel Škorpil was one of the co-founders of the Archaeological Museum in Varna in 1888 and of the Archaeological Society in Varna in 1901 . From 1915 until his death in 1944 he was director of the archaeological museum in Varna.

Together with his brother Hermann Škorpil, he developed extensive collector and research activities in the field of Bulgarian antiquity and the Bulgarian Middle Ages. His research interests were in archaeological monuments, topography, architecture, inscriptions, rock churches and monasteries. In 1899, Škorpil discovered the ruins of Pliska , the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire Pliska.

In 1899 he became a corresponding member of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna, in 1918 a full member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and in 1929 Czechoslovak Honorary Consul in Varna.

His archaeological research in Bulgaria was reflected in more than 150 publications in Bulgarian, German, Czech and Russian.

To honor his services to the rediscovery of Pliska, he was later buried in Pliska . Today a street in Varna bears the name "Škorpil Brothers" ( Bulgarian Братя Шкорпил / Bratja Schkorpil), as does a small village on the Black Sea coast - Schkorpilowzi ( Bulgarian Шкорпиловци / the Škorpils). He has also been the namesake of the Škorpil Glacier in Graham Land in Antarctica since 2010 .

Web links

Commons : Karel Škorpil  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

• Heribert Sturm: Karel Škorpil. In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of the Bohemian Lands. Volume 4, part 2, Oldenbourg, Munich 2005, p. 100.