Page:The Bohemian Review, vol2, 1918.djvu/225

 years, the Czech women, under the in fluence of foreign customs, lost their position of equality with men. But when the Czech nation awakened to new life, after the French Revolution, the women again had thier share of the work in creating a national culture.

They have made their mark, especially in the field of literature. The mother of the realistic school of the Czech belles-lettres was Božena Němcová (1810–1860). Her best-known book, “Babička” (Grandmother), describes the life of the Bohemian peasantry and draws the character of a wise old woman in a realistic yet tender fashion. The book was translated into English by Frances Gregor about 25 years ago, but it is now out of print. Němcová suffered such persecution from the Austrian authorities that her life was cut short prematurely. She was not merely a great author, but also a mentor of her people, awakening in them a better knowledge and appreciation of the qualities of the peasants, and thus laying a secure foundation for their political life.

Other women authors who came after her in point of time were not merely strong literary personalities, but exerted n in fluence upon the social and political life of the Czech nation. Two well-known novelists, Karolina Světlá, and her sister, Žofie Podlipská, in addition to their literary work took part in the wider national life, which of course in their days, when reaction and persecutions were supreme, had to limit itself to the education of young girls and to the strenghtening of national conscious ness by work in the literary and social spheres. Another great Bohemian woman whose activity estended almost to the pre sent day is Eliška Krásnohorská, who for years occupied a prominent place among the poets of Bohemia. Her poems are womanly soft, some sentimental, but they aroused in the people a feeling of pride in their nationality and contributed to the development of full national consciousness. This woman poet realized that the nation is founded on the family, and that the strength of the family depends on the education of women; and so she laid the foundation of the girls’ gymnasium (an eight-year classical course preparing for the university). This school, known as the “Minerva,” wáhichwhich [sic] was opened in Prague in 1893, before the Germans had any such school, made it possible for girls to enter the university and opened the way for them to enter the learned professions.

The best known Czech woman author is Božena Viková-Kunětická. She is not only a successful novelist, but is a leader in the movement for equal social and political rights for women, and she has done much in the service of this great cause. She is the type of the strong, mature and socially and politically progressive Czech woman. All her literary work has contributed powerfully to the emancipation of women, and she received the honor of being elected the first woman deputy to the Diet of the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Another great woman worker, a Social Democrat, well known in the circles of the workingmen, both Czechs and Americans, is Karla Máchová, she having traveled in this country. She is a gifted speaker, enlisting the interest of the masses in the cause of woman’s rights, and in the political and social equality of all classes. Another eminent woman author is Růžena Svobodová.

When an organization was founded in Bohemia for the physical training of men in accordance with the ancient classical examples, it was soon extended to women. The “Sokols”, the famous athletic organization which originated in Bohemia, and later spread to all other Slav nations, was founded in 1861. In the United States, the first Sokol society was established at St. Louis in 1865. As early as 1869 was found ed the first gymnastic society of Czech women and girls, and the first president of it was Žofie Podlipská. This society became a part of the great Sokol organization.

The Sokols were, down to the outbreak of the war, the most powerful of the Czech organizations, and they were greatly feared by the Austrian Government. At their last meet in Prague, in 1912, there participated 13,000 men, 6,000 women, 5,800 children, and 3,000 competed for athletic prizes. From America alone, where there are 20,000 Sokols, over 1,000 men and women went to Prague to take part in the meet.

The significance of the Sokol movement is not limited merely to physical training. There is a wonderful spirit which it infuses into all the members. The original motto of Sokol is: “Jump over, break through, climb over, but never under.” This ex-