Republikán a volnomyšlenkář? Složitý život Leopolda Heyrovského mezi státem, rodinou a společností

Abstract

The article deals with the characterization of Leopold Heyrovský (1852–1924), professor of Roman law at the Law Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, as a “republican” and “freethinker”, as preserved by the memories of his descendants. Using the memories of his daughter Klára Heyrovská and of his colleague Jan Krčmář, the author focuses on religion, political and social ideas and the paternal role of Leopold Heyrovský. On the basis of partial sources, he is trying to reconstruct the political, religious, and social habitus of the hitherto less researched Prague university professor. It turns out that the characterization of Heyrovský as a republican and freethinker basically corresponds to reality, but with the caveat that Heyrovský was well aware of the risks that such opinions would bring him, and therefore expressed them only very carefully. His religious situation – he remained formally Catholic but did not participate in any religious ceremonies – was complicated not only by his position as a university professor, but also by his marriage to a fervent Catholic wife who raised their children in this faith. Nevertheless, he tried to pass on his free-spirited and patriotic views to his children, to whom he devoted a lot of time as a committed father.