Great personalities of Czech history, culture and politics

Intro:
 I would like to talk about same great personalities of Czech history. Firstly, I’m going to mention some Czech princes and kings. Then, I’ll say something about two Czechs Nobel Prize winners and other Czechs known abroad.
Czech monarchs
 In the 4th century BC Celtic tribes settled in the area (the Boii tribe gave the land its name: Bohemia) and later Germanic tribes and Slavic people. In the 7th century, the Frankish merchant Samo became the ruler of the first known Slavic state in Central Europe, which was partly situated in present-day Moravia. The importance of Moravia grew further, and in 833 Great Moravia was created. While Great Moravia declined towards the end of the 9th century, the Czech state was unified by the Přemyslids (who ruled the country until 1306) and prospered.
 In accordance with folk tales, the first Czech prince was Přemysl Oráč. He and his wife princess Libuše founded the Přemyslids dynasty. However, the first documented member of this dynasty was Bořivoj. Saint Wenceslas is maybe the most famous Přmyslid and he is also a saint patron of Bohemia. He was well educated and committed to Christianity, but his brother Boleslav disagreed with him and murdered him in 935 to take control of Bohemia. The most powerful Přemyslid was probably Přemysl Otakar II, his nickname is The King of Iron and Gold. He could be the Holy Roman Emperor but he was killed in Battle at Moravian field in 1278.
 The Czech King Charles IV (1316 – 1378) of the Luxembourg dynasty even became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. He chose Prague as the capital of his whole Empire. He founded Charles University, St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge, the New Town or Karlštejn Castle (as a place for keeping the coronation jewels and other treasures).
 I should mention also Georg from Poděbrady. He was elected as the Czech king in 1458. He had a great vision of united Europe, but other monarch didn’t respect him and the pope overrode him, because he supported the Hussite movement.
 In the 16th century the country came under the Habsburg reign. Here I want to mention Rudolf II, because I like his enthusiasm for alchemy, astronomy and art.
He stayed also in Prague as Charles IV and he invited there many scientists (like
Tycho de Brahe or Johannes Kepler), artists and alchemists (like Edward Kelly).
Nobel Prize winners
 Professor Jaroslav Heyrovský (1890 – 1967) was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Chemistry in 1959 for the invention and development of the polarographic
method, a new branch of electrochemistry.
 The poet Jaroslav Seifert (1901 – 1986) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1984. In his poems Seifert celebrated Prague and the cultural heritage of the
Czech Republic.
Sport personalities
 Among many our hockey players, Jaromír Jágr (b. 1972) and goalkeeper Dominik
Hašek (b. 1965) are the most famous at present. They helped the Czech team to
get the Olympic Gold in Nagano in 1998.
 In athletics, Czechs such as runners Emil Zátopek (1922 – 2000) and Jarmila
Kratochvílová (b. 1951) and javelin-throwers Dana Zátopková (b. 1922) and Jan
Železný (b. 1966) have made a great impression.
 The Czech tennis school has made many tennis players world-famous. Martina
Navrátilová (b. 1956) has won Wimbledon nine times and in total she has won 164
titles in international tournaments.
Art personalities
 Karel Čapek, a brilliant novelist, journalist, and playwright, is known for introducing
the word “robot” in his play R.U.R. The word was suggested to him by his brother
Josef and comes from the Slavic word robota (= forced labour).
 Many excellent composers were born in the Czech Republic. Antonín Dvořák (1841
– 1904), the author of Slavonic Dances and the symphony From the New World,
gained worldwide recognition for his work, while Bedřich Smetana (1824 – 1884) is
well known for his symphonic poem Vltava (The Moldau) from the cycle My
Country.
Other
 Jan Amos Komenský (1592-1670), called The Teacher of Nations, is a famous
baroque preacher, philosopher, writer and pedagogue. He is an author of many
pedagogical writings such as Orbis pictus or Didactica magna.
 A Czech statesman, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850 – 1937), supported democratic policies and defended Czechoslovak independence during WWI. He became the first president of Czechoslovakia.