Otakar Zachar

The chemist and brewer Otakar Zachar (1870–1921) made a great contribution to the study of the history of chemistry and particularly alchemy, which he tried to give its own particular place in the history of science. He closely linked the results of extensive studies of the Czech and foreign sources with the development of the natural sciences and technology. His publications are still important sources of knowledge on the history of science to this day.

Otakar Zachar came from Točník. Back when he was studying chemistry at the Czech Technical University in Prague, which he had started in 1888, he devoted a great deal of time to studying the history of alchemy and chemistry in the Czech lands. According to Zachar, the paths of chemistry and alchemy diverged in the 18th century and chemistry started to become an exact science. Based on extensive research in the libraries and archives of the National Museum, in Třeboň and in Broumov, but also in many European archives, from 1896 Zachar published articles on the history of alchemy and chemistry in specialised and popular scientific journals, such as Časopis pro průmysl chemický, Časopis Musea Království českého, Hlas národa, Světozor, Květy and Lumír. Zachar continued to publish articles at the same pace even after taking over the management of the family brewery in Kladno-Kročehlavy in 1898, where he drew on his expertise in brewing and technical chemistry (he had been a member of the Society for the Chemical Industry in the Kingdom of Bohemia since 1893). Zachar wrote several books, and one of his principal works is entitled O alchymii a českých alchymistech [On Alechemy and Bohemian Alchemists] (1911), which was illustrated by his friend of many years, Mikoláš Aleš. In this book Zachar describes, amongst other things, the life and work of the Czech Renaissance thinker Bavor mladší Rodovský z Hustířan. One of Rodovský’s most famous Czech manuscripts on alchemy, from 1585 and entitled Jitřní záře (Aurora Consurgens, or Rising Dawn), which was a Czech translation of an unknown Latin text, found in Leiden, was published in Kladno in 1909 by Otakar Zachar. He also published re–editions of other works on alchemy. In 1911 Zachar was approached by the Technical Museum in Prague and asked to create a model of a 16th-century alchemist’s workshop. Many of the exhibits from this extensive exhibition are now housed in the National Technical Museum. Besides the history of chemistry and alchemy in particular, Otakar Zachar also studied the history of spiritualism and devoted himself not only to journalism, but also to broader literary interests - he was the author of many plays. Towards the end of his life Zachar taught at the Czech Technical University, although his plan to achieve habilitation in the history of chemistry was never accomplished owing to his untimely death in 1921.

Dolejší, J.: Jitřní záře české alchymie (Život a dílo Otakara Zachara 1870–1920). In: Logos, 1–2/2000, s. 57–74.

Mika, J.: Mezi alembikem a spilkou. Kladno 2012.

Zachar, O.: O alchymii a českých alchymistech. Praha 1911.

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