On Friday, 23rd January, 125 years had passed since the foundation of the Czech Academy of Emperor Franz Josef I for Sciences, Literature and Art (ČAVU), the predecessor of today’s the Czech Academy of Sciences. This significant jubilee will be commemorated by the Czech Academy of Sciences with several ceremonial events, exhibitions and lectures throughout 2015. The founder and first president of ČAVU was Josef Hlávka, an architect, builder, politician and patron. The Masaryk Academy of Labour and the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences later built on the activities of this institution.
“The names change, but the main ideas and ideals remain. Thanks to them, the current Czech Academy of Sciences this year celebrates 125 years of research, progress and enthusiasm for science in all its forms. Cultural, educational and social events, which showcase the Academy of Sciences in its historical and modern forms, reveals a more interesting context and allow them to peek under the hood of scientific research”, says prof. Jiri Drahos, President of the Academy of Sciences.
Event on the Occasion of the 125th Anniversary of the Establishment of the ČAVU
23rd January 2015, 11 AM
Ceremonial Session of the 125 Years of the Czech Academies of Sciences (and Art)
The main hall of Wallenstein Palace, Prague
At the ceremonial session, the following people will progressively appear with speeches and lectures: President of the Senate of the Parliament of the CR Milan Štěch, President of the Czech Academy of Sciences prof. Jiří Drahoš and President of the Board of Directors and Presidium of the Foundation of Josef, Marie and Zdeňka Hlávka Václav Pavlíček. A short lecture on the historic milestones of the Czech Academy of Sciences will be given by Luboš Velek, Director of the Masaryk Institute and Archive of the CAS, v. v. i. The ceremonial program will be complemented by a performance by violin virtuoso Václav Hudeček.
23rd January 2015, 7 PM
Ceremonial Opening of the Year of the ČAVU 2015
St Agnes Cloister, Prague
The official trailer of the year-long celebrations will be presented by Marek Eben, who will moderate the entire evening. There then follows a word from President of the Academy of Sciences prof. Jiří Drahoš and a presentation of the events and exhibitions of the Year of the ČAVU. Besides the interviews with the curators of the individual exhibitions, Marek Eben will also debate prof. Drahoš “At the Science Hall” (on the model of the programme “At the Pool”). In the musical section of the programme, the choir Boni Pueri will appear.
The date is to be announced
Videomapping
Building of the Czech Academy of Sciences on Národní třída, Prague
Within the celebrations of the anniversary of creation of the Academy of Sciences, videomapping has been prepared. This is an attractive way of video projections on the facades of buildings. The projected video accurately reproduces the features of the original building, but it is transformed visually, creating a unique visual show. The unique spectacle acquaints the general public with selected historical milestones of the AS and important scientific personalities.
4th March 2015 to 19th July 2015
Interactive exhibition Science and Technology: An Adventure that Will Entertain You!
National Technical Museum, Prague
The exhibition will present academic research of technical, scientific and medical specializations. Components of the exhibition will be presentations of the individual institutes and current results of their work, but also insights into the history of the individual fields, commemorations of important personalities and their successors. For children and youth, one of the most important groups of visitors to the museum, an interactive exhibition Little Scientist – Great Scientist will be prepared. Components of the exhibition will also be an accompanying program in the form of workshops.
30th April 2015 to 15th September 2015
Natural Science Exhibition Botanical Stories (World of Plants – From Knowledge to Use)
Průhonice Castle and Botanical Garden Chotobuz
The central motif of the exhibition will be basic knowledge of relationships in nature and their function in the real life of society. The exhibition introduces visitors to botanical work both in the field and in the laboratory. It brings closer the research from the genetic level to the relationships in ecosystems and vegetation mapping using remote sensing. It shows how to move gradually from revealing the life processes of plants to the practical application of this knowledge. It will be complemented by a series of workshops for children, families and school groups.
May to October 2015
Travelling outdoor exhibition ART (and) SCIENCES
Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, Jihlava, České Budějovice, Prague
This is an outdoor exhibition traveling around six cities of the Czech Republic. The exhibition presents the Academy of Sciences, its history, present and future, significant personalities and scientific areas on which the CAS concentrates. It will also focus on presentations of the achievements of the CAS, important milestones or individual scientists and the contribution of the activities of the Academy for society and the everyday life of the citizens. The topics will be presented in the form of panels, which will be placed on the squares in selected cities. Each exhibition will be accompanied by the opening attended by the representatives of the city, partners and the media.
27th to 29th May 2015
International conference Non-University Research Institutions in 1890–2015
Building of the Czech Academy of Sciences on Národní třída, Prague (27th May)
National Technical Museum, Prague (28th and 29th May)
The conference will summarize the development and importance of non-university institutions associated with the development of science, especially in the Czech Republic and Central Europe, but it will also touch on the development of European-wide and global science. In doing so, the topics will be viewed from three perspectives: historical (non-university research forms and their development), analytical (current state and functionality of such institutions) and programme (the vision of its future functioning). The conference is intended for historians, sociologists, economists and managers of science.
11th June 2015 to 27th September 2015
Exhibition Sense of Art: Artistic icons in the Czech Academy of Sciences and Art
National Gallery, Salm Palace, Prague
The exhibition presents the Czech Academy of Sciences as a collector of artistic gifts and patrons of the arts. It offers works of Czech painting and sculpture that are visually interesting and of fine artistic quality, which are owned by the current CAS (eg. Works by V. Brožík, F. Ženíšek, J.V. Myslbek, H. Boettinger, J. Mařatka, F. Bilek F. Kupka, etc.). It mediates official art, scientific illustrations, technical drawings and photographs, respectively stereophotography. The interactive part will be comprised of an installation in a depository room where the works can be hung on the network and the visitor pulls only the topics that interest him/her and works in the main part of the exhibition that had already drawn his/her attention.
17th September 2015 to 7th February 2016
Exhibition Science - People - History
National Museum, Prague
The exhibition will present the most interesting results achieved at academic institutes in the fields of the social sciences and humanities. It commemorates important personalities from the ranks of researchers and will present the individual institutes.
30th September 2015 to 31st October 2015
Path Can Be Different (Exhibition of contemporary fine arts at the institute of the Academy of Sciences)
National Technical Library, Prague
The aim of this exhibition is to document the art exhibitions, which have taken place on the grounds of the academic institutes and also describe the motivations of the organizers. The exhibition will present artistically interesting outcomes of the research work of the scientific employees of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
8th December 2015
Final Gala Evening of the ČAVU 2015 (ceremonial closing of the celebrations of the CAS)
Forum Karlín, Prague
The modern multifunctional spaces of the Forum Karlin in Prague are the place where culture and society meet with the world of media and technology. The final gala will take place here, which closes the entire ceremonial year of 2015. With the participation of the leading Czech moderator Marek Eben prominent representatives of the academic, educational, cultural and political spheres will meet here; not only artistic performances of all kinds will be seen here, but also an entertaining interactive science programme.
From the History of the CAS
The earliest predecessor of today’s The Czech Academy of Sciences became a learned society which was created in Prague among the scholars living in the services of the aristocratic salons here at the turn of the 1770s. In 1784–1790, it began to be referred to as the Royal-Imperial Society of Sciences (KČSN). German and Czech were spoken in it, but over time it significantly promoted the Czech element. However, unfulfilling ideas about the appropriate organization of scientific work were not fulfilled, and so the attention of the then prominent representatives of science began to push in another direction. After 1818, mainly as a result of the nimble activities of Count Kaspar M. Sternberg and later František Palacký, it seemed Prague’s National Museum would become a major centre of scientific research. In the second half of the 19th century, however, this institution – like other large museums in Europe – began to concentrate primarily on documentation and collecting activities.
Jan Evangelista Purkyně presented the bold vision of the Czech National Academy of Sciences. Its contribution consisted particularly of the emphasis on the systematic work of well-equipped research institutes and in the belief that science is necessary to ensure with effective (and thus also financial) independence from the church and the state. Negotiations on the formation of a (Czech language) Academy then was initiated by the builder, architect and patron Josef Hlávka when he anonymously pledged the future academy 200,000 gold pieces. Later he also became its first President (1890–1908). The establishment of the Czech Academy of Emperor Franz Josef I of Sciences, Literature and Arts was allowed and its statutes were approved by Emperor Franz Josef I on 23rd January 1890. This day is therefore the date of the establishment of the institution, which was initially housed in the newly constructed building of the National Museum at the top of Wenceslas Square and launched its operations on 18th May 1891. It was divided into four classes: philosophy, social sciences and historical disciplines; natural sciences; philological studies; and art, music and literature.
After the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic (1918), the Academy was renamed the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts (ČAVU). In 1923 the possibility of full membership was opened to women and five years later the natural sciences class was divided into five sections (math and physics, chemical-mineralogical-geological, biological, medical and technical). ČAVU became a selective learned society, whose role lie in both the domestic and foreign representation of Czechoslovak science, in issuing publications and in the redistribution of scientific scholarships and supports from both state resources and from private foundations and trusts. Professional work in it concentrated in expert commissions, but gradually the seeds of the future institutes began to be promoted. Concurrently with ČAVU, also the KČSN, which already then was become domesticated as Czech, Masaryk Academy of Labour (MAP) and the Czechoslovak National Research Council (ČSNRB) had a significant role in the scientific life in 1918-1945.
Soon after the war, some specialized departments of ČAVU began to grow into the scientific institutes (1946 Institute for the Czech Language, 1946-1950 Institute for Nuclear Physics, 1947 Mathematical Research Institute, 1947-1948 Institute of Czech Literature), while another seven institutions gradually formed within the so-called Centre of Scientific Research, founded in 1949 (Institute of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Mathematics, Astronomy and Polarography). Both structures then together with the research environment of the KČSN, MAP and ČSNRB incorporated in 1952 as the newly founded Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (CSAS), where also the research establishments that had previously been under the Ministry of Education, Science and the Arts went (National Institute for Archaeological, State Historical Publishing Institute, Oriental Institute, Institute of Slavonic Studies etc.).
In comparison with universities, the scientific community of the ČSAS kept at least formally, a greater degree of decision-making autonomy, and so in the fifties could provide asylum also to scientists expelled from universities (eg. the literary critic Václav Černý or philosopher Jan Patočka, in 1958 the chemist Otto Wichterle). As elsewhere in society, the decision-making mechanisms were under the full control of the totalitarian regime and its bureaucratic-directive methods of management. The ČSAS had particularly heavy period of normalization. The leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took revenge for its leading role played by teams of social-science institutes of the ČSAS in the reform efforts of the so-called Prague Spring of 1968. One of the principal authors of the political manifesto Two Thousand Words from June 1968, the inventor of contact lenses, Otto Wichterle, became the last chairman of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (1990-1992) after the fall of the communist regime. Under his leadership, meaningful rebuilding of the scientific organizations began. The ČSAS expired on 31st December 1992 and the same date the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic was created, which now claims not only the legacy of ČAVU, but also the other precursor institutions.
2 Feb 2015
