Commemorative Plaque to Bohumil Němec in Prasek

The memorial plaque on the building of the municipal office commemorates the famous native of Prasek, university professor, botanist and multifaceted scientist Bohumil Němec, who was born here in 1873. Němec was professionally interested in for example the principle of plant growth, but he was also active politically, even running for president in 1935. The plaque in his honour was unveiled in 2012 on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the village.

Bohumil Němec is one of the most important figures of Czech botany. He was born in Prasek into a peasant family, graduated from Bydžov grammar school and began studying natural sciences at the then Faculty of Arts of Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague. Initially he studied zoology, but soon shifted his interest to botany, where it remained. He collaborated with the eminent botanist L. Čelakovský, from whom he took over the management of the university botanical institute at the age of 29. He became a professor when he was only 34 years old, the youngest professor of the faculty at that time. He studied plant physiology and phytohormones, became world famous for his statolith theory explaining the orientation of plant growth and experiments with polyploidy. In addition to his scientific work, he was very active in organization and politics. He was the dean of the faculty and later the rector of the university, he was responsible for the establishment of the Faculty of Science of Charles University and for the publication of the popular scientific journal Vesmír (Cosmos), which is still published today. In politics, he was a member of the National Democratic Party and a personal friend of Alois Rašín, became a member of parliament and a senator, and in 1935 ran for president of the republic as opponent of Edvard Beneš. Despite his troubles during the communist regime, he was scientifically active until the end of his life in 1966. Bohumil Němec also has a memorial plaque on the building of the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Viničná Street in Prague.

Janko, J.: Bohumil Němec (12. 3. 1873 –7. 4. 1966). Akademický bulletin Akademie věd České republiky, 2006, č. 4, 

 

Němec, B., Podaný, V., Janko, J., Barvíková, H.: Vzpomínky. Bohumil Němec. Praha 2002

Memorial plague - Bohumil Němec (Author: J.Frambergová, obec Prasek)

Bohumil Němec (Author: Archive MUA AV ČR)