Blanka Hemelíková
Portrait of an Industrialist’
This article aims to show how Jan Neruda portrayed Czech industrialists in a series of short articles on ‘interesting leaders' for the humour magazine Humoristické listy [Humorous newspaper]. The organizing principle of the series was ‘deeds beneficial to the nation', consisting in a biographical account that traced the advancement of a particular industrial figure ‘from poor apprentice into a person of merit'. In particular, the article examines Neruda's article on milling machine manufacturer Jan Prokopec, where the author uncharacteristically stylizes his biography in the form of a fairytale. Drawing on the features of the genre, Neruda highlights the ‘Czechness' of the figure in question, depicting him not as a self-made man but as a compatriot and inventive miller.
Keywords: Czech Lands – 19th century – Humoristické listy – Jan Neruda – Jan Prokopec
design by Bedřich Vémola
