Karel Jaromír Erben (; 7 November 1811 – 21 November 1870) was a Czech

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

and poet of the mid-19th century, best known for his collection '' Kytice'', which contains poems based on traditional and folkloric themes. He also wrote ''Písně národní v Čechách'' ("Folk Songs of Bohemia") which contains 500 songs and ''Prostonárodní české písně a říkadla'' ("Czech Folk Songs and Nursery Rhymes"), a five-part book that brings together most of Czech folklore. Venceslav cerny erben baje a povesti slovanske

Venceslav cerny erben baje a povesti slovanske

Biography

He was born on 7 November 1811 in

Miletín Miletín is a town in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. History The first written mention of Miletín is from 1124. Notable people *Diviš Bořek of Miletínek (?–1438), Hussite ...

near Jičín. He went to college in

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

. Then, in 1831, he went to Prague where he studied philosophy and later law. He started working in the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

with František Palacký in 1843. He became editor of a Prague's newspaper in 1848. Two years later, in 1850, he became archives' secretary of the National Museum. He died on 21 November 1870 of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

. He was member of the Czech National Revival, and politically he was also a sympathizer of Illyrian movement and Russian Slavophilia for entrenched populations of Slavs in other parts of the world. As practitioner of his ideals, he published ''Sto prostonárodních pohádek a pověstí slovanských v nářečích původních'' ("One Hundred Slavic Folk Tales and Legends in Original Dialects"), also known by its subtitle ''Čitanka slovanská'' ("Slavic Reader"), that was influenced by the Grimms' collection of fairy tales. It included such pieces as tale No. 2, ''Dlouhý, Široký a Bystrozraký'' (" Long, Broad and Sharpsight", translated into English by

Albert Henry Wratislaw Albert Henry Wratislaw (5 November 1822 – 3 November 1892) was an English clergyman and Slavonic scholar of Czech descent. Early life Albert Henry Wratislaw was born 5 November 1822 in Rugby, the eldest son of William Ferdinand Wratislaw (1788 ...

). The entire volume was translated by W. W. Strickland, and eventually published as ''Panslavonic Folk-lore'' in 1930. He is also considered an important poet of the Czech literary

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

in the mid-19th century, with his collection of a dozen literary ballads entitled '' Kytice z pověstí národních'' ("A Bouquet of Folk Legends", 1853).

Selected works

* ''Písně národní v Čechách'' (Folk Songs of Bohemia) (1842–1845); contains 500 songs * '' Kytice z pověstí národních'' (A Bouquet of Folk Legends) (1853, expanded edition 1861)
English edition
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); 5-part collection of Czech folklore * ''České pohádky'' (Czech Fairy Tales)

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * *

External links

* * * *
About English translation on Radio Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erben, Karel Jaromir 1811 births 1870 deaths People from Miletín People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech folk-song collectors Czech poets Czech male poets 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Burials at Olšany Cemetery 19th-century musicologists