František Klácel

František Matouš Klácel (April 8, 1808, Česká Třebová - March 17, 1882, Belle Plaine, Iowa, US) was a Czech author, philosopher, pedagogue, and journalist from Bohemia. Since 1827 an Augustinian friar in Moravian town Brno, co-brother of Gregor Mendel.

During his rich and varied life Klácel used several pseudonyms (František Třebovský, J. P. Jordan, and while he was abroad he used the name Ladimír K.) He also called himself Matouš František K.- Matouš had been his monastic name. He was born into a poor family, and his father was a cobbler. After basic school in Třebová and junior school he went to grammar school in Litomyšl and after graduating spent the next two years studying philosophy. In 1827 he went to the Augustinian monastery in Brno where he became a member of the order and spent the years 1829-32 studying at the Brno theological institute. In 1833 he was ordained priest and after sitting three examinations at Olomouc university he was named professor of philosophy at the Brno theological institute in 1835. He enjoyed great authority amongst his students, and this was strengthened by his part in Czech cultural history and his poetic work.

As a philosopher Klácel was a follower of G. W. F. Hegel and he attempted to develop his ideas both in aesthetics and also towards the creation of a general theory of science and also on the problem of the patriotic movement, which he understood to be a precursor to humanitarianism and humanity (for example his essay Cosmopolitanism and patriotism with particular reference to Moravia). As well as his philosophical debuts he published in book form The beginnings of Czech scientific grammar – the first systematic Czech attempt to create a philosophical language. Because of his free thinking opinions and suspicion of panslavism Klácel was relieved of his professorship after nine years. After a short stay in Prague, where he worked as a librarian and became acquainted with patriotic groups, and following a short visit to Leipzig and Dresden he repaired to Liběchov on the invitation of his patron A. Veith. Here he managed the castle library, met with the Liběchov intellectual society, wrote poetry and together with the sculptor Václav Levý he took part in producing relief sculptures at the caves nearby (the so-called Klácelka). He returned to Brno in 1845 on the intervention of the church authorities, and together with J. Ohéral made efforts to establish the first Czech newspapers in the Moravian Weekly, which was first issued in January 1848, but Klácel was sent away from the German surroundings of Brno to Prague. There in the revolutionary year he took part in the activities of the National Committee, and was a member of the Slavonic Congress.

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