Commemorative Bust to Bohuslav Balbín in Hradec Králové

1969 

It took many years for a memorial bust of Balbín to be installed here. Balbín was an important scholar of the 17th century, he was interested in natural history and the Czech language. The publication of his work in the 19th century earned him -years after his death- great popularity among Czech nation revivalists.

 

Bohuslav Balbín (3 December 1621─29 November 1688) was a Czech Jesuit, teacher, historian and naturalist. He was born in Hradec Králové in a house that stood on the site of the later Jesuit college. During his lifetime Balbín travelled to many places in Bohemia and Moravia and he used the knowledge he gained to write his life`s work Miscellanea historica regni Bohemiae (Diverse Facts from the History of the Kingdom of Bohemia). Long after Balbín`s death, in 1775, his Discourse in Defence of the Slavonic Language, especially Czech was published, which made his work very popular among Czech revivalists.

 

The installation of Balbín`s bust in Hradec Králové had been planned since the 1880s, the initiative was first taken by the patriotic Society of Young Men. Yet the bust however, has not made until 1939, and installed only in the summer of 1969! The statue of Balbín looks focused, but not stern, and is dressed in Jesuit habit. It is placed on the wall of the former Jesuit college, which is now part of the New Adalbertinum hotel complex.

 

References

Martina VÍTKOVÁ: Byl Bohuslav Balbín vlastenec anebo gay? Hradecký Deník, 8. 11. 2011. Dostupné na https://hradecky.denik.cz/spolecenska_rubrika/byl-bohuslav-balbin-vlastenec-a-nebo-gay20111108.html (cit. 14.04.2020).

https://sochyamesta.cz/zaznam/21079 (cit. 14.04.2020).

http://www.jesuit.cz/osobnost.php?id=43 (cit. 14.04.2020).

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