František Erben (27 November 1874 – 9 June 1942) was a

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

, trainer, and educator from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, in what is now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Erben made his international competitive debut at the 1900 Paris Summer Olympics where he finished in 32nd place. He took part in the third-ever World Championships in 1907, where the

n team made its auspicious debut and started their several-decades-long tradition of great success at World and Olympic competition in the sport of

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

. He took bronze in the overall competition, behind his compatriot

Josef Čada Josef Čada (30 March 1881 – 1 December 1959) was a Czech gymnast who represented Bohemia and Czechoslovakia in Men's Artistic Gymnastics. He made his World Championships debut in 1907 at the third World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Pr ...

and Frenchman Jules Rolland. Bohemia also took gold in the team competition, and Erben took gold in both the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syst ...

and

pommel horse The pommel horse, also known as vaulting horse, is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal bo ...

and bronze in the

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars approximately long and positioned at above the floor. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally wear ...

. At the next World Championships, in 1909, the

n team won silver, behind France. At the next World Championships, Erben won silver on the horizontal bar and bronze on the rings. In addition to his competitive sporting career, Erben was also a very respected and highly sought-after instructor. Against other competing applicants from other countries and systems, such as Germany and Sweden, Erben was chosen by the Russian Government to be a gymnastics teacher at their military academies and "in 1909...was designated teacher of gymnastics at the military academy in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

...Russia.". Previously, Česká Obec Sokolská, or COS ( Czech Sokol Organization) hired him as a traveling instructor for their organization. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he joined the

Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...

and returned to Czechoslovakia after the war. In May 1925, Erben, described as a "teacher hohad no equal" was hired as the Director of Sokol instructor schools, concurrent with the opening of Palác Michny z Vacínova (Michna Palace from Vacínov), more currently and simply known as Tyršův dům ( Tyrš House). Despite having suffered several strokes later in life, and being 67 years old, Erben, an active member of Sokol organization, was executed by Nazi Germans at the

Kobylisy Shooting Range Kobylisy Shooting Range () is a former military shooting range located in Kobylisy, a northern suburb of Prague, Czech Republic. The shooting range was established in 1889–1891, on a site that was at the time far outside the city, as a tra ...

in Prague, following the

assassination of Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a principal architect of the Holocaust, was assassinated during the Second World War in a coordin ...

by the members of Czech resistance.Profile at CoJeCo.cz
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Erben, Frantisek Czech male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts for Bohemia Gymnasts at the 1900 Summer Olympics Gymnasts from Prague 1874 births 1942 deaths People executed at Kobylisy shooting range Czechoslovak civilians killed in World War II Czechoslovak Legion personnel Sportspeople from Austria-Hungary