Life story
According to the birth record, Božena Němcová was born on February 4, 1820 in Vienna as Barbora Novotná; she was baptized in August of that year in Malá Skálica, now part of Česká Skálica. Scholars continue to dispute her origins and exact year of birth to this day — only the part of her story that readers have embraced remains certain.
She spent her childhood in Česká Skálica and received her education in Chvalkovice. In 1837, her parents married her to the considerably older Josef Němec. With his reassignments, the family moved from town to town — Litomyšl, Polná, Prague, Domažlice — and in Domažlice she became, in essence, the first national advocate for Czech culture.
Her life was difficult: her husband's accusation of conspiracy against the state, forced relocations, loss of income, and in 1853 the death of her son Hynek. Despite this — or perhaps because of it — she wrote prose works that rank among the most widely read in Czech literature: Grandmother, Wild Bára, and her fairy tales.
She died in Prague on January 21, 1862 at the age of not quite forty-two. She is buried in Vyšehrad Cemetery.
Constellation of Life
Important milestones that shaped their journey.