Queer Places:
Tyršův dům, Újezd 450/40, Malá Strana, 118 01 Praha-Praha 1, Czechia
Jiří
Karásek ze Lvovic (English: Jiří Karásek from Lvovice; January 24, 1871,
Prague – March 5, 1951, Prague) was a homosexual Czech poet, writer and literary critic.
He is a prominent representative of decadence in Czech literature. As a writer
and reviewer he also used naturalistic and impressionistic styles. In
Czechoslovakia, Jiří Karásek evidently tried to warn the public that what had
happened to Oscar Wilde in England
might happen to a man in their society too; yet he did nothing to avoid being
influenced by Wilde: his own fiction, including The Hidden Painting (1923) and
Ganymedes (1925) had various Wildean motifs.
Karásek ze Lvovic studied theology at the Theological faculty in Prague,
but he did not complete. Thereafter, he left Bohemia for one year and after
his return he started working as a clerk in the post office. Soon after, he
was appointed director of the library of the Ministry of Post, and director of
the Postal Museum and Archive. In 1894 he founded, together with Ernst Stroll,
the well known magazine Modern Review, in which he published mainly
Czech and French decadent literature and art. Later, he published two
magazines, intended for sexual reform – Hlas (Voice) and Nový Hlas
(New voice).
During his lifetime he gathered together an extensive private library
(48,000 volumes) and a collection of Slavic art and graphics (40,000 items).
In 1922, he donated this collection to the Czechoslovak Sokol Organization,
which was housed in the Tyrš house in Prague; with the condition that it be
managed by him until the end of life. In 1954, the collection became part of
the National Literature Archives.
Karásek was also a writer, author of many poems and prose works. Some of
his novels are now categorized as science-fiction literature. He was
interested in occultism and was a member of the Czech society of hermetics
"Hermetik Universalia". He was also a collector of paintings and his
collection was one of the largest collections of modern art throughout Europe.
It was later nationalized and exhibited in Czech museums.
Almost forgotten, he died in Prague in 1951 of pneumonia.
My published books:
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- https://alchetron.com/Ji%C5%99%C3%AD-Kar%C3%A1sek-ze-Lvovic
- Woods, Gregory. Homintern . Yale University Press. Edizione del
Kindle.