Vincenc Lesný
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Vincenc Lesný
| image =Vincenc Lesný (1882-1953).jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1882|4|3}}
| birth_place = Komárovice
| death_date = {{Death date|df=yes|1953|4|9}}
| death_place = Prague
| occupation = Teacher, research scholar
| nationality = Czech
| notableworks =
| spouse = Milada Krausová-Lesná
| children = Ivan Lesný
| awards =
}}
Vincenc Lesný (3 April 1882, Komárovice – 9 April 1953, Prague) was a Czech professor and research scholar of Indology and Iranian Studies.
Early life
The second son of Baltazar Lesný and Victorie (née Sujerlova), Vincenc was born at Komárovice, then in Austria-Hungary, now in the Czech Republic, on 3 April 1882. After graduation, he joined a naval academy at Pula between 1901 and 1903. He studied classical philology, Sanskrit and old Indian culture at Charles University between 1903 and 1907. He attended lectures on modern Indian languages in Oxford and Bonn in 1909-1910. On completing his studies, he first taught in schools and then in the university.Ze vzpomínek neurologa prof. MUDr. Ivana Lesného, DrSc., Jemnické listy, leden 2013, s. 29, časopis města Jemnice{{Cite web | first = Zejda | last = Radovan | title = Vincenc Lesný | url = http://www.kronikahoracka.cz/vyznamne-osobnosti/vincenc-lesny.html | language = cs | date = 2002 | access-date = 16 August 2019 | archive-date = 29 July 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200729065901/http://www.kronikahoracka.cz/vyznamne-osobnosti/vincenc-lesny.html | url-status = dead }}
Santiniketan
He was a student of Moriz Winternitz. In 1920, Rabindranath Tagore met him during his visit to Czechoslovakia. Lesný was an admirer of Tagore's poetry and had translated in 1914, some of his prose and poetry into Czech and published it - Rabindranath Thakur : Ukázky poesie a prosy. When Winternitz joined Visva Bharati University in 1923 as a visiting professor, Lesný also went to Santiniketan. He taught German and himself learnt Bengali. He had mastered Sanskrit before going to Santiniketan. Lesný went back after a short time but again returned to Santiniketan in 1928 as a professor.{{cite web | url = http://www.visvabharati.ac.in/VincencLesny.html| title = Vincenc Lesný (1882-1953) |work= Great Personalities| publisher = Visva Bharati |accessdate = 16 August 2019}}
Later life
At the Charles University in Prague, he became associate professor of Indology in 1924, full professor in 1930 and took over management of the Faculty of Arts in 1937. Since 1945, he was director of the Oriental Institute at Prague.{{cite web | url = http://www.libri.cz/databaze/orient/main.php | title = Vincenc Lesný" v encyklopedii |work= Czech | publisher = Libri |accessdate = 26 April 2010}}
His wife, Milada Krausová-Lesná, was a Czech translator from Scandinavian languages. Their son, Ivan Lensy, was a doctor and a writer.{{Cite web| title = Ze vzpomínek neurologa prof. MUDr. Ivana Lesného, DrSc.| url = https://anzdoc.com/obsah-ze-vzpominek-neurologa-prof-mudr-ivana-lesneho-drsc-je.html |work= Czech| date = 2007}}
Works
His book Buddhism: Buddha and Buddhism of the Pali Canon (1921) was an objective view of Buddhism. His Spirit of India presented history and religion in India in a historical context. He translated extensively. His later translations of Tagore were the first directly from Bengali to Czech.{{Cite web|title=Višvabháratí - duchovní brána do Indie|url=http://www.kronikahoracka.cz/vyznamne-osobnosti/vincenc-lesny.html|work=Czech|date=2002|access-date=16 August 2019|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729065901/http://www.kronikahoracka.cz/vyznamne-osobnosti/vincenc-lesny.html|url-status=dead}}
References
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Category:Linguists from Austria-Hungary
Category:Linguists from Czechoslovakia
Category:Linguists of Sanskrit
Category:People from Třebíč District
Category:People associated with Santiniketan
Category:Translators from Bengali
Category:20th-century Czech linguists