Karolina Svetlá

Karolina Světlá (born Johana Nepomucena Rottová; 24 February 1830 – 7 September 1899) was a Czech writer and feminist. She is among the most important Czech female writers of the 19th century.

Life

She was born Johana Nepomucena Rottová on 24 February 1830 in Prague, into the family of a merchant. Although she received an education in French and German, she became a Czech patriot. She became a friend of Božena Němcová, an important Czech female writer and one of the figures of the Czech National Revival. In 1852, she married her teacher of music Petr Mužák (1821–1892). Němcová and Mužák helped her find her way back to the Czech language. She had a daughter, who died in 1853, and that was the impetus for moving from Prague to Světlá (today Světlá pod Ještědem), where her husband was born.

She lived in Světlá from 1853 to 1865. In 1858, Johana Mužáková used the pseudonym Karolina Světlá for the first time. She chose this pseudonym after the village of Světlá and after her niece Karolina (born in 1853), who also lived in Světlá. In the 1860s, Karolina Světlá had a short affair with her friend Jan Neruda.

In 1875, Světlá contracted an eye disease that gradually worsened and left her almost blind. She dictated her works to her niece and her maid. She spent her last decade alone in her apartment in the U kamenného stolu historical house at Charles Square in Prague. Karolina Světlá died on 7 September 1899 in Prague. She is buried at Olšany Cemetery.

Work

Světlá was associated with the literary Májovci group. She introduced Eliška Krásnohorská to literature and feminism. She edited the magazine Ženské listy, which was established by Krásnohorská in 1873.