KAREL JAROMIR ERBEN
(1811–1870)
Karel Jaromir Erben, the outstanding folk-lorist of Czech literature, was born November 7th, 1811 in Miletin and died November 21, 1870. As so many of his literary contemporaries Erben studied and practiced law, was active as a journalist, and took part in the stormy political currents of 1848. His literary and historical interests gave him the necessary background for the wealth of folk-lore material which forms the basis for the KYTICE, his best known collection of ballads. The material of this collection is a good reflection of the soul and thoughts of the Czech people, the simple rural people, in whom the love of their language and their traditions remained alive through centuries of oppression and repression. It is difficult to select any one of the ballads for preferential position, for every one of them has become near and dear to the Czech readers.
23
