František Šmahel

The academic works of the outstanding Czech historian of the 20th and 21st centuries, František Šmahel, have been focussed on the history of the Middle Ages, particularly on the era of the House of Luxembourg and the Czech Reformation. His research into the theme of the Hussites without any nationalistic or political contexts helped in mapping the times of late medieval Central Europe as a period of huge political, religious, and cultural changes. He also deals with the issues of Humanism, the Renaissance, and the Reformation in Central Europe, as well as the history of Central European universities. He has been respected for his critical approach to the sources for discoveries of new methodological approaches and his works have been highly received in Europe and America. He is a member of American Historical Association, a corresponding member of the Royal Historical Society, British Academy, and an international member of Monumenta Germaniae Historica. His research, societal, and personal contributions to the study of history were awarded by the Academy of the Sciences of the Czech Republic with the Anniversary Award, and with the František Palacký Prize at Palacký University; he received the Czech presidential Medal of Merit (First Class) award on the occasion of the Independent Czechoslovak State Day on October 28, 2002, and has received several honorary doctorates. In 2013, he received the Czech governmental award Czech Mind as the first scientist who received this most prestigious Czech prize for research in the humanities. He is currently employed as Vice-Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies, a joint institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Charles University.

Awards:

  • The František Palacký Prize - 14 June 2004

Privacy settings

We use cookies and any other network identifiers on our website that may contain personal data (e.g. about how you browse our website). We and some of the service providers we use have access to or store this data on your device. This data helps us to operate and improve our services. For some purposes, your consent is required to process data collected in this way. You can change or revoke your consent at any time (see the link at the bottom the page).

(Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the website to function properly.)
(Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.)
(They are designed for promotional purposes, measuring the success of promotional campaigns, etc.)