Siegfried Kapper was the literary pseudonym of Isaac Salomon Kapper (21 March 1821,

Smíchov Smíchov () is, since 1922, a district and cadastral area of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History It was only on 22 February 1903, that Smíchov was elevated to ...

7 June 1879,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

), a

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n-born

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writer of

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origin. Born in Smichow, Kapper studied medicine at

Prague University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the oldest universities in the world in continuous operation, the oldest university north of the ...

, later completing a

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at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. Kapper wrote excellent fairy tales and poems, and was one of the leading figures of Czech-Jewish assimilation. Kapper wrote in both

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and

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. He translated Mácha's ''

Máj ''Máj'' (Czech language, Czech for the month ''May''; ; usually ''květen'') is a Romantic poetry, romantic poem by Karel Hynek Mácha in four cantos. It was fiercely criticized when first published, but since then has gained the status of one o ...

'' into German for the first time (1844). Austrian composer

Nina Stollewerk Nina Stollewerk Rosthorn (18 July 1825 - 26 January 1914) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and singer who was one of the most widely-reviewed female composers of her time, and one of the few 19th-century women to conduct an orchestra. Stollewe ...

used Kapper's text for her composition "Zwei Gedichte," opus 5. After his death, the Kapper-Society was founded; its aim was Czech-Jewish assimilation and opposition to

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and German-Jewish assimilation.

Selected works

* "Das Böhmerland" (1865) * "Die Handschriften Altböhmischer Poesien" (1859) * "Die Böhmischen Bäder" (1857) * "Fürst Lazar" (1853) * "Falk" (1853) * "Südslavische Wanderungen" (1853) * "Die Gesänge der Serben" (1852in two parts) * "Lazar der Serbenzar" (1851). Kapper had a Serbian predecessor in the person of Joksim Nović-Otočanin who published his book on the same theme at Novi Sad ( Neusatz) in 1847. * "Befreite Lieder dem Jungen Oesterreich" (1848) * "České Listy" (1846) * "Slavische Melodien" (1844)

English edition

* ''Tales of the Prague Ghetto''. Prague: Karolinum Press (2022). . The stories Kapper wrote about the Jews of Prague (collected posthumously as ''Prager Ghettosagen'', 1896).

References

External links

"Siegfried Kapper" at the Jewish Encyclopedia
1821 births 1879 deaths Writers from Prague Jewish Czech writers Czech nationalists 19th-century Czech poets Czech male poets Czech medical writers German-language poets German Bohemian people Anti-Zionist Jews Jewish poets University of Vienna alumni 19th-century male writers Poets from the Austrian Empire Poets from Austria-Hungary 19th-century Czech Jews {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub