Karel Jaromír Erben facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Karel Jaromír Erben
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| Born | 7 November 1811 Miletín, Austrian Empire |
| Died | 21 November 1870 (aged 59) Prague, Austria-Hungary |
| Resting place | Olšany Cemetery |
| Occupation | folklorist, poet, archivist |
| Nationality | Czech |
| Literary movement | Romanticism |
| Notable works | Kytice |
| Spouse | Barbora Mečířová |
Karel Jaromír Erben (born November 7, 1811 – died November 21, 1870) was a famous Czech folklorist and poet. He lived in the mid-1800s. He is most famous for his book of poems called Kytice. These poems are based on old traditional stories and folk tales.
He also wrote Písně národní v Čechách ("Folk Songs of Bohemia"). This book has 500 songs. Another important work was Prostonárodní české písně a říkadla ("Czech Folk Songs and Nursery Rhymes"). This five-part book brought together most of Czech folklore.
Contents
About Karel Jaromír Erben
Early Life and Education
Karel Jaromír Erben was born on November 7, 1811. His hometown was Miletín, which is near Jičín. He went to college in Hradec Králové. In 1831, he moved to Prague. There, he studied philosophy and later law.
Career and Work
In 1843, Erben started working at the National Museum. He worked with František Palacký, who was a famous Czech historian. In 1848, Erben became an editor for a newspaper in Prague. Two years later, in 1850, he became the archives' secretary at the National Museum. This meant he was in charge of important historical documents.
Erben was a part of the Czech National Revival. This was a movement to bring back the Czech language and culture. He also supported ideas like the Illyrian movement and Russian Slavophilia. These ideas focused on uniting Slavic people around the world.
He put his ideals into practice by publishing Sto prostonárodních pohádek a pověstí slovanských v nářečích původních. This means "One Hundred Slavic Folk Tales and Legends in Original Dialects." It was also known as Čitanka slovanská ("Slavic Reader"). This collection was inspired by the famous fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. One of the tales included was "Long, Broad and Sharpsight."
Erben is also seen as an important poet of Czech Romanticism. This was a style of art and literature in the mid-1800s. His collection of poems, Kytice z pověstí národních ("A Bouquet of Folk Legends"), was published in 1853. It contains a dozen literary ballads.
Later Life and Death
Karel Jaromír Erben died on November 21, 1870. He passed away from tuberculosis.
Important Works
- Písně národní v Čechách (Folk Songs of Bohemia) (1842–1845); this book has 500 songs.
- Kytice z pověstí národních (A Bouquet of Folk Legends) (1853, with a bigger edition in 1861). You can find an English edition from 2012.
- Sto prostonárodních pohádek a pověstí slovanských v nářečích původních: čitanka slovanská s vysvětlením slov (One Hundred Slavic Folk Tales and Legends in Original Dialects: a Slavic Reader with Vocabulary, 1865).
- Vybrané báje a pověsti národní jiných větví slovanských (Selection of Folk Tales and Legends from Other Slavic Branches) (1869).
- Prostonárodní české písně a říkadla (Czech Folk Songs and Nursery Rhymes) (1864); a 5-part collection of Czech folklore.
- České pohádky (Czech Fairy Tales).
See also
In Spanish: Karel Jaromír Erben para niños
