Karel Jaromír Erben | |
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Portrait of Karel Jaromír Erben by Jan Vilímek
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Born |
Miletín, Austria |
7 November 1811
Died | 21 November 1870 Prague, Austria-Hungary |
(aged 59)
Resting place | Olšany Cemetery |
Occupation | Writer, poet |
Nationality | Czech |
Literary movement | Romanticism |
Notable works | Kytice |
Spouse | Barbora Mečířová |
Karel Jaromír Erben (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkarɛl ˈjaromiːr ˈɛrbɛn]; 7 November 1811 – 21 November 1870) was a Czech historian, poet and writer of the mid-19th century, best known for his collection Kytice (Czech: Bouquet), which contains poems based on traditional and folkloric themes.
He also wrote Písně národní v Čechách (Folk Songs of Bohemia) which contains 500 songs and Prostonárodní české písně a říkadla (Czech Folk Songs and Nursery Rhymes), a five-parted book that brings together most of the Czech folklore.
He was born on November 7, 1811 in Miletín near Jičín. He went to college in Hradec Králové. Then, in 1831, he went to Prague where he studied philosophy and later law. He started working in the National Museum (Národní muzeum) with František Palacký in 1843. He became editor of a Prague's newspaper in 1848. Two years later, in 1850, he became archives' secretary of the National Museum. He died on November 21, 1870 of tuberculosis.