Matěj Procházka: a prophetic figure in the history of the Czech Republic in the 19th century

In the Czech Republic, a figure that had fallen into oblivion, Matěj Procházka (1811-1889), a man who contributed creatively and actively to the shaping of the modern Czech nation, has recently been brought to light again through the study of Veronika Řeháková1. He was a historian, an apologist, and a pioneer of the practice and social doctrine of the Catholic Church. He was a friend of František Sušil, a Catholic priest and a well-known figure outside the Czech Church, and a teacher of Tomáš G. Masaryk, the first president of the Czechoslovak Republic. Born in Brtnice, a small town near Jihlava, from 1827 to 1833 Procházka attended the seminary in Brno, where Czech- and German-speaking candidates to priesthood were trained together. He was very loyal to the Church but, at the same time, he had a great ...