Czech, Swatopluk

Birth, Chekhov Family

Swatopluk Čech was born on February 21, 1846 in the settlement of Ostršedek near the town of Benesov in the family of the estate manager. The father of the future writer, a peasant by birth, Frantisek Cech was an ardent patriot and sympathized with the democratic aspirations of the Czech progressive intelligentsia of that time. In addition, he participated in the events of 1848 , for which he was subjected to repression. During the period of political persecution of Czech culture in the 50s, Frantisek, however, did not give up his ideals and, hiding from the authorities, carefully kept the forbidden portraits of the heroes of the Czech national liberation movement, Jan Hus and Jan Zizka . In addition, Chekhov’s house housed the forbidden books of the Czech poet and publicist Karel Gavlicek , with whom Frantisek had previously corresponded. ^[2] Frantisek also had an acquaintance with the famous poet Jan Kollar , whose ideas of friendship of all Slavic peoples he shared completely.

Frantisek Cech had great love for the Russian people, which he passed on to his son, telling him stories about the history of Russian people, customs, lifestyles, etc. Chekhov’s family also enjoyed an atmosphere of love for books, because there were an impressive number of books in the family . Sometimes Frantisek read aloud to his children and wife of the classics of Russian and Czech literature. On the whole, father’s progressive ideas at that time had a great influence on the emerging worldview of the young Swatopluk Čech. ^[2] Swatopluck studied mainly away from his family, as the Czechs lived in settlements, where often there was not a single school. Often, with his father, Swatopluk traveled to his native Czech Republic, observing the life, life and nature of the Czech people.

Studying in a boarding house

In 1858, Frantisek managed to obtain a free place for his son in the Prague diocesan boarding school for students, whose pupils studied at the PR gymnasium (the Chekhov family was large and often experienced financial difficulties), but Swatopluk himself did not like this institution:

I felt as if I had forever said goodbye to a beautiful, bright world, with all its joys and hopes, and had to be buried alive in the gloomy walls of the seminary. ^[2]

While learning, Swatopluck reads a lot, he gets acquainted with the works of Karel Makhi , Frantisek Chelakovsky , Jan Kollar , Rear, as well as Russian Alexander Pushkin , Nikolai Gogol and Mikhail Lermontov . Recalling his first acquaintance with the " Prisoner of the Caucasus " Pushkin, Czech wrote:

He impressed me as if something unexpectedly had appeared before me. ^[3]

At the same time, Swatopluk begins to try to write works of his own composition, which differed in their romantic mood and, at the same time, in connection with folk art. In 1865 Swatopluck completed his studies.

Studying at the University

Having finished his studies at the Swatopluck boarding school, at the insistence of his father, he enters the Faculty of Law of the University of Prague. As a student, Czech continues his studies in literature, and also takes an active part in several semi-legal patriotic organizations, such as Ogarek and Rukh . The activities of the circles were aimed at the formation and raising of the national identity of the Czech people, however, due to the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian war, in 1866 it was interrupted. Due to the development of hostilities Swatopluk leaves Prague. Then, together with other progressively minded students of that time, Cech takes part in mass anti-government demonstrations and national camps:

Clearly, as if now, the paintings of that storm pass before me; I see a bubbling river of excited crowd carrying me and Vladimir (Cech’s brother) along Ferdinand Street, the deafening cries of “Pereat Herbst!” and “Pereat Beist!” ringing in my ears still ring in my ears; they sounded non-stop, in time with the movement of closely connected rows of students and workers ... ^{[4] [5]}

At the same time, Čech had a friendship with екомenek Körber , the head of the anti-government organization S Blanika , whose members organized an explosion in 1869 near the Prague police building. The Czech in his apartment kept the printing press of this organization, from which the anti-government leaflets of the organization came out. These popular national liberation unrest of the 60s, rising against the existing government, influenced the work of Cech. In the late 60s - early 70s, Czech met with progressive figures in the person of poets Sladek and Scholz, art critic Gostinsky and writer Arbes.

Journalism, trip to Russia

After graduating from university in 1869, Swatopluk works by profession and is engaged in legal activities, as well as actively conducting journalistic work. At this time, Cech had to experience serious financial difficulties, which affected his work. In 1873, Czech, after the closure of the journal Queta , collaborates with the magazine Lumir , which was founded by Neruda and Galek. Swatopluck was originally one of the authors of the journal, and then, until 1876, an editor. In the same journal, the first major poem by Cech Adamita was published. In 1874, Swatopluk went to Russia as a journalist, where he traveled to the Caucasus, Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta, Novorossiysk, Vladikavkaz. Fascinated by the southern nature, Czech later wrote in his letters:

The first singers of the Slavs Lermontov and Pushkin became the bards of this land, its splendor and colors; they created a number of the most beautiful images born of Slavic poetry, such images as Demon, Tamara, Mtsyri, the unfortunate lover of the Caucasian captive. ^[6]

Also in some of his essays, Swatopluk spoke with admiration of the Russian soldiers. During his stay in Russia, Czech studied the Russian language, and the Russian realities he saw were subsequently reflected in many of his works. While in Tiflis, Čech read a positive review by Neruda about his first book of poems, in which the reviewer gave words of welcome to the appearance of a new original poet in Czech literature. at the end of 1878, Swatopluk, together with his brother Vladimir and a university friend Servac Heller, founded the literary journal Kveta . A similar name was taken as a memory of the editions of the same name by Joseph Kayetan Tyl, Vitezslav Galek and Jan Neruda. at the same time, Cech completely abandoned his professional legal activities, devoting all his time to the magazine and literature. Cech participated directly in editing the magazine until 1899.

Youth Creativity, 60s

The first poetic works of Cech began to appear in the mid-60s. In 1867, in the journal of Queta , a poem by Kritianka was published, which brought fame to the author. The poem was the poet's response to the unfolding war of the southern Slavs against the Turks, which was unfolding at that time in the Balkans. ^[7] A year later, in the Rukh almanac, in honor of the laying of the National Theater in Prague , a number of his poems were published, and in 1869 several more were in the Almanac of Czech students . Among these poems, special attention was paid to the public by Hussit in the Baltic , Izba, and My poetry . The first talked about the campaign of the eight-thousand-strong Hussite squad from the Czech Republic to the Baltic Sea in 1433 with the intention of helping the Polish troops in the battle against the Teutonic Knights. The second poem showed the apparent idyll of rural life on the other hand, permeated with grief and hunger. My poetry defended literature supporting ordinary people.

One of the first to respond positively to the work of the novice writer was Neruda, who wrote in his article on the Almanac of Czech students praise to the poems of Čech and also noted the “healthy foundation” of “My Poetry”. ^[7] But nevertheless, due to the often radical democratic, anti-government and anti-clerical orientation, many works of Swatopulk have not been published. Among such works is the poem of the Despot of 1863, in which the poet contrasted the despot of the beggar, saying that the crown and throne of the tyrant are not strong and the day will come, the oppressed will arise, and the despot will be forgotten and forgotten. in the poem The Fate of the Poor 1866, Swatopluk talks about the events of 1848, in the center of which are two workers - a father who died in battle with the troops, and dreams, injured in a barricade. In the end, Cech completes the idealistic poem, saying that the time will come when there will be no poor. The national liberation movement and the Battle of Belogorsk was dedicated to the poem Drum, in which this same Hussite drum symbolized the movement of the national liberation revolution. Exposing the activities of the Catholic Church was dedicated to his Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam! and in the church.

After graduation, 70s - first half of the 80s

After graduating from Prague University and experiencing financial difficulties, Swatopluck, however, does not abandon literary activity and continues to work in this direction. However, in view of these circumstances, his works of this period sometimes have signs of incompleteness. ^[8] In 1871 he wrote a story A pledged conscience , which was based on a narrative of how money is corrupted in a person’s capitalist society. The story, like some of his later works, had a touch of romance and fairy tale, which was due not only to the reasons of literary tradition, but also the need to sometimes resort to allegorical means of expression. In another story of the same year - the Lishkovitsky landowner - the evil writer ridiculed the lordly swagger, ignorance and worship of foreigners. On the example of this story, according to L. Kishkin, it is clear that Swatopluk followed in his works the creative principles developed by Neruda and Gogol. In the 70s, a poem by Adamita was published in the magazine Lumir , telling about the period of the Hussite wars. The poem expressed the poet’s internal struggle between materialistic and idealistic views on life. ^[6] In the 70s, Czech also continued to be interested in Russian literature and culture; in 1871, he wrote a laudatory article on Russian folk songs. In Lumir, his translations of Pushkin’s forbidden poems are published. He translates poetry of Shevchenko.

To a large extent, Cech's work in the 70s and partly 80s was influenced by the decline of the national movement, as well as the ideology of the “juvenile ideology” that developed at that time. ^{[9] The} Czech continues to criticize capitalism and advocates for the common man, the worker. Also at this time, the theme of unity and friendship of the Slavic peoples occupies a special place in the work of the writer and poet. In 1876 Swatopluk wrote the poem Dagger, the ideological and artistic features of which were influenced by the poetry of Pushkin and Lermontov. ^[9] In the poem, Cech supports the liberation struggle of the Bulgarians against the Turks and expresses the conviction that in the future all oppressed Slavic peoples will gain freedom. At the end of the same year, Swatopluk was finishing work on the story Hawk against Gorlinka , in which the usurer Hawk, who was the image of the then capitalist, ruined the Gorlinka family. The story was mainly realistic in nature and had artificially introduced elements of exoticism and literary amusement into it, and was also distinguished by an idyllic description of the life of the nobility. ^[10] In 1879, in the journal of Queta , a poem In the shadow of a linden was published, which tells of the idyll of rural life. The poem consisted of a series of small-sized and different-mood poems-short stories. The main characters of the poem were ordinary Czechs - peasants, tailors, millers and soldiers, but in general the work was patriotic in nature, for which it was loved by supporters of democracy. A year earlier, the poem Europe appeared, in which Czech reflected on the future of Western countries. In 1882, Slavia saw the light - a peculiar continuation of Europe - the main theme of which was the problem of the relationship between the Slavic peoples led by Russia. In the first half of the 80s, Czech wrote two more poems - Vaclav from Mikhalkovits (1878) and Dogmar (1883–1884), whose main theme was the history of the Czech Republic. At the same time, in the period from 1878 to 1883, four volumes of the writer's works are published under the general title Stories, Arabesques and Humoresques . Most of them bore an anti-bourgeois and candidacy character.

With the onset of new social changes, Cech's approaches to his work also changed. One of the first responses of the writer to new social phenomena of the 80s was the poem Leszhetinsky blacksmith , which was published in 1883 in the publication of the Poetick Talk. However, almost immediately after the release of the poem was confiscated and banned for publication for a long time. In 1884, the Hanuman poem appeared , distinguished by its satirical attitude towards the Czech bourgeoisie, as well as by its general cosmopolitan aspirations. The characters of the poem were monkeys, who, according to the author, were parodying with their behavior deputies of bourgeois parties, their inaction and complete dependence on the emperor.

Second half of the 80s

In 1886, Cech created a cycle of interconnected poems, called Songwriter of Jan Buryan . The cycle had a general anti-noble orientation, denounced them in the absence of patriotism and the maintenance of national oppression.

Poems

• 1863 - Despot
• 1867 - Cretans
• 1869 - Songs of the disadvantaged
• 1876 ​​- Dagger
• 1886 - Songwriter of Jan Burian
• 1886 - Labor
• Huss in the Baltic
• Hut
• My poetry
• Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
• In the church

Poems

• 1866 - The Fate of the Poor
• 1878 - Europe
• 1879 - In the shade of linden
• 1882 - Slavia
• 1882 - Wenceslas from Mikhalkovits
• 1883-1884 - Dogmar
• 1883 - Leshetinsky blacksmith
• 1884 - Ganuman
• 1886 - True

The stories

• 1871 - Pledged Conscience
• 1871 - Lishkovitsky landowner
• 1873 - Rrrrbumbum

Tales

• Travels of Pan Brouchek