Our Hrabyň

Karel Engliš wrote this declaration of love for his native village of Hrabyně almost ninety years ago. However, it is only now being published in its entirety, just as the author wished.
First, the rising communist regime forbade him from publishing the book, then the manuscript was hidden and stored in various archives. Part of it was published in 1999 under the title “Hrabyň mého mládí” (The Hrabyně of My Youth). Thanks to the efforts of Karel Engliš's family and other experts, the entire manuscript has been gradually compiled, deciphered and transcribed over the years, the visual accompaniment completed according to the author's notes, and everything prepared for a new edition.
Readers can now immerse themselves in the distinctive and engaging narrative of a Hrabyně native, a prominent scientist, national economist, politician, and rector of both Masaryk and Charles Universities, who lived out his life in Hrabyně.
The text is accompanied by watercolours and drawings created for the book by František Vrobel, as well as period photographs, drawings, and documents from Engliš's memorial books. The book is supplemented with recollections from Engliš's contemporaries and extensive explanatory notes by historians. It thus forms a valuable new historical source and offers the reader an experience expressed in the author's wish: “So I thought that if I wrote down these memories, I would be preserving them, so that others, who will come and love Hrabyně as I do, might live them with me for centuries, however faded they may be.”