Buditeli

(the Awakeners), persons active in the Czech national movement of the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century—a period known as the Czech renaissance.

The Buditeli were for the most part members of the intelligentsia, teachers, and writers who fought actively during the last third of the 18th century for the rebirth of the Czech language, literature, science, and culture. These had declined greatly in the 17th and 18th centuries as a result of the Hapsburgs’ policies of Germanization and oppression of national minorities. Among the best-known Buditeli were the historians and philologists H. Dobner, F. M. Pelcl, J. Dobrovský, J. Jungmann, F. Palacký, P. J. Šarařik, V. Hanka, and V. Hacha; others include the publisher V. M. Kramerius and the writers, poets, and dramatists A. J. Puchmajer, J. K. Tyl, A. Máchek, and J. S. Presl. The biologist J. E. Purkině was also involved, as were many others. The Czech Royal Scientific Society (founded 1784), the Czech National Museum (founded 1818), the Matice česká (Czech Fund; founded 1831), and other centers of culture and learning were created on the initiative of the Buditeli and with their active participation. Their work was of great importance not only for the development of Czech science and culture but also for the awakening of the national consciousness of the masses, since it played an important role in the formation of a Czech bourgeois nation. A deep interest in the history and culture of the other Slavic peoples, especially the Russians, was characteristic of the Czech Buditeli. The Buditeli made a substantial contribution to the development of Czech-Russian scientific and cultural ties during the first half of the 19th century.