Antonín Veith, or Weith (3 January 1793 – 19 December 1853) was a Czech patron of the arts, who worked to promote the peaceful coexistence of Czechs and Germans.

Life and work

Veith was born on 3 January 1793 in

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; german: Budweis ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 93,000 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is ...

, Bohemia. His father, Jacob Veith (1758-1833), was a weaver and textile entrepreneur from

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, who acquired a large number of estates throughout Bohemia. He studied at the in Prague, where he learned Czech, and was exposed to French and English literature. He spent the year 1817 in England. In 1833, he inherited his father's manor in Liběchov, and his estates in

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. He was very popular with the local people, opening Czech and German schools, and gathering together a large circle of authors and scholars, for whom he served as a patron. These included the philosopher,

Bernard Bolzano Bernard Bolzano (, ; ; ; born Bernardus Placidus Johann Gonzal Nepomuk Bolzano; 5 October 1781 – 18 December 1848) was a Bohemian mathematician, logician, philosopher, theologian and Catholic priest of Italian extraction, also known for his li ...

, the physician and naturalist,

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, the poets,

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and

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, the historian,

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, the journalist,

Karel Sabina Karel Sabina (pen names include Arian Želinský and Leo Blass) (29 December 1813 – 8 November 1877) was a Czech writer and journalist. Life Karel Sabina grew up in poverty as an extramarital child of a daughter of a sugar producing factory ...

, and the lawyer and politician, .''

Otto's encyclopedia ''Otto's encyclopedia'' ( cs, Ottova encyklopedie or ), published at the turn of the 20th century, is the largest encyclopedia written in Czech. For its scope and the quality of the writing, it is comparable to the greatest world encyclopedias of ...

'', entry for "Veith, Antonín". The painters,

Quido Mánes Quido Mánes (17 July 1828, Prague - 5 August 1880, Prague) was a Czech painter who specialized in genre scenes. Life and work He came from a family of artists that included his father Antonín, uncle Vaclav, brother Josef and sister Ama ...

and

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, who decorated the manor with frescoes, and the sculptor,

Václav Levý Václav Levý (also known as Wenzel Lewy; 14 September 1820 – 30 April 1870) was a Czechs, Czech sculptor. He was considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern style in Bohemia. Biography Levý was born in the village of Nebřeziny (tod ...

, all worked at Liběchov. Levý initially worked for him as a cook, but after displaying his artistic talents, Veith sent him to Prague to study with the sculptor, František Xaver Linn (1802–1848). Later, Veith sent him to Munich to complete his studies with

Ludwig Schwanthaler Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler, later ennobled as Ritter von Schwanthaler (26 August 1802 – 14 November 1848), was a German sculptor who taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. Biography Schwanthaler was born in Munich. His family had been ...

. In 1837, he decided to create a monument to the nation's heroes near Tupadly. It would comprise twenty-four statues of notable Czechs and Germans. The structure to house them, now known as , was designed by . The statues were commissioned from Schwanthaler, who died when he had finished only eight. Veith never completed the project, due to financial difficulties. After the bankruptcy of his brother, Václav (1787–1852), who was a farmer in

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, he took over administration of the family's estates, but was unable to make them profitable and went further into debt. He died on 19 December 1853 in Liběchov, at the age of 60. After his death, the estates were inherited by his nephew, Antonín Ladislav Veith (1836–1913), who gradually sold them off.Petr Mašek, ''Šlechtické rody v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku'', Vol.II, N-Ž, Praha 2008, p. 396

Life and work

References

Further reading