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Seifert, Jaroslav

(Encyclopedia)Seifert, Jaroslav, 1901–86, Czech poet. Starting as a revolutionary “proletarian” poet, Seifert soon began to emphasize fantasy and enchantment as antidotes to modern technological civilization....

Čelakovsky, František

(Encyclopedia)Čelakovsky, František fränˈtĭshĕk chĕˈläkôfskĭ [key], 1799–1852, Czech folklorist and poet. A disciple of Herder and a romantic Pan-Slavist, he collected Slavic folk songs from 1822 to 18...

Silesia

(Encyclopedia)Silesia sĭlēˈzhə, –shə, sī– [key], Czech Slezsko, Ger. Schlesien, Pol. Śląsk, region of E central Europe, extending along both banks of the Oder River and bounded in the south by the mount...

Lower Austria

(Encyclopedia)Lower Austria, Ger. Niederösterreich, province (1991 pop. 1,480,927), c.7,400 sq mi (19,170 sq km), NE Austria. Vienna, although outside its boundaries, is the seat of the provincial government. Lowe...

Némcová, Božena

(Encyclopedia)Némcová, Božena bôˈzhĕnä nĕmˈtsôvä [key], 1820–62, Czech novelist and storyteller. Némcová developed the regional tale, which she enhanced with an original prose style. Her work provide...

Skvorecky, Josef

(Encyclopedia)Skvorecky, Josef, Czech Josef Václav Škvorecký yōˈzĕf vätsˈläv shkvôrˈĕtskē [key], 1924–2012, Czech-born novelist, grad. Charles Univ., Prague (1951). Written in 1949, Skvorecky's first...

Dyk, Viktor

(Encyclopedia)Dyk, Viktor vĭkˈtôr dĭk [key], 1877–1931, Czech writer and nationalist. Dyk considered his novels, satires, short stories, plays, and poems as weapons in the struggle to free his country from Au...

Dobrovský, Josef

(Encyclopedia)Dobrovský, Josef dôˈbrôfskē [key], 1753–1829, Hungarian philologist, of Bohemian parentage. In 1792 the Royal Bohemian Academy of Sciences commissioned Dobrovský to recover Bohemian manuscript...

tektite

(Encyclopedia)tektite tĕktīt [key], naturally occurring, silica-rich (65%–80% SiO2) glass resembling obsidian and sometimes shale, and is normally jet black to olive green. They appear as small rounded or elong...

Upper Austria

(Encyclopedia)Upper Austria, Ger. Oberösterreich, province (1991 pop. 1,333,480), 4,625 sq mi (11,979 sq km), NW Austria. Linz is the capital. Bordering on Germany in the west and the Czech Republic in the north, ...