Jan Gebauer (8 October 1838,

Úbislavice Úbislavice is a municipality and village in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Česká Proseč, Chloumek, Stav, Štěpanice and Zboží are admin ...

– 25 May 1907, Prague) was a significant expert on Czech studies and one of the most renowned Czech scientists of all times. His scientific work was influenced by the methods of

positivism Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...

Biography

Jan Gebauer was born into a poor family in the small village of

near the Krkonoše mountains. Thanks to a recommendation from a local clergyman, Gebauer received an offer to study at high school in Jičín. After his school-leaving exam, he first went on to study theology, but he did not finish it and enrolled onto a

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

program at

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

instead. During the whole time of his studies, he suffered from a lack of money. After finishing his studies, he started working as a teacher – in Prague at first, later in

Pardubice Pardubice (; german: Pardubitz) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 89,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monu ...

, and finally in Prague again. He received his Ph.D. in 1872 and became a docent of the Czech language at the Charles University in 1873. In 1880 he was named professor extraordinarius and one year later professor ordinarius. In 1886, he exposed the Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and of Zelená Hora ("discovered" in 1817) as literary hoaxes by

Václav Hanka Václav Hanka (also written as ''Wenceslaus Hanka'') (10 June 1791 – 12 January 1861) was a Czech philologist. Biography Hanka was born at Hořiněves near Hradec Králové. He was sent in 1807 to school at Hradec Králové, to escape the ...

in Masaryk's Athenaeum journal.Historical abstracts: Modern history abstracts, 1775-1914: Volume 17 American Bibliographical Center - 1971 "In 1886 Toma's G. Masaryk's journal Athenaeum published Jan Gebauer's philological article casting doubt on the authenticity of the Old Czech manuscripts of Dvur Kralove' and Zelena' Hora, accepted by most patriotic Czechs as precious ..."

Works

* ''Historická mluvnice jazyka českého'' (Historical grammar of the Czech language) – volumes ''Hláskosloví'' (Phonetics, 1894), ''Tvarosloví – Skloňování'' (Morphology – Declension, 1896), ''Tvarosloví – Časování'' (Morphology – Conjugation, 1898), ''Skladba'' (Syntax, 1929, edited and published by František Trávníček) * ''Slovník staročeský'' (Dictionary of the old Czech language, 1903, 2 volumes, finished and published by

Emil Smetánka Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

) * ''Mluvnice česká pro školy střední a ústavy učitelské I, II'' (Czech grammar for middle schools and pedagogical institutes I, II, 1890) * ''Krátká mluvnice česká'' (Short Czech grammar, 1891)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gebauer, Jan 1838 births 1907 deaths Linguists from the Czech Republic Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Historians of the Czech lands Historical linguists People from Jičín District Charles University alumni 19th-century Czech historians