Alois Vojtěch Šembera

Who was Alois Vojtěch Šembera?

Alois Vojtěch Šembera was a Czech linguist, historian of literature, writer, journalist and patriot.

During 1819–26 Šembera studied at the gymnasium in Litomyšl, during 1826/27 philology at the Charles University in Prague and then law at the same university.

Between 1830–39 he worked as municipal lawyer in Brno and gave there private lessons to the children of local nobility. During 1839-47 he taught Czech language and literature at the University of Olomouc. Between 1847–49 Šembera supervised the Moravian provincial archive. During years of 1848/49 he was an editor of Moravské noviny. In 1849 he was named professor of Czech language and literature at a University of Vienna.

Šembera was an active participant of the Czech National Revival. In 1839 he asserted to use Czech names for the streets in Brno, later in Olomouc, encouraged use of the Czech language and preservation of historical landmarks in the country. He initially believed in authenticity of manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and of Zelená Hora but later turned against them being rewarded by enmity of Czech nationalists.