Thirty-five 35 participants from 13 countries gathered at Villa Lanna July 16-19, 2014 to hear and discuss presentations on the life and work of one of the foremost European philosophers of the 19th century, Bernard Bolzano. Most of the 30 talks given were on philosophy but mathematics and theology. More than a quarter of the participants were research students. Several news stories have drawn attention to recent developments in Bolzano studies. In May the complete English translation of Bolzano’s major work Wissenschaftslehre (Theory of Science) was published. This year nearly three-quarters of the129 volumes of the Bernard Bolzano Gesamtausgabe will appear in print. The program and other details of the meeting can be found at bolzano2014.wordpress.com. The meeting enjoyed generous sponsorship. Details on the dissemination of the papers will appear in due course. This meeting was co-organised by the Institute of Philosophy of ASCR and the International Bernard Bolzano Society, Salzburg. The Society met in Prague in April 2010 on the 200th anniversary of a book of his published in 1810. Dr. Balzano (1781-1848) was a Bohemian mathematician, logician, philosopher and theologian of Italian extraction and taught at the University of Prague (Charles). and Arianna Betti, Steve Russ.
January 21st marked the 150th anniversary of the death of one the most famous and influential Czech writers, Božena Němcová who was born in Vienna. When she was 17 years old, she married Josef Němec who a state customs officer and 15 years older than her. Although the marriage lasted nearly 25 years, it became an unhappy one since the married couple didn’t understand one another very well. Němcová died in poverty, estranged from her husband. Bohemian patriots arranged a dignified funeral for her. Her most popular work is the novel The Grandmother, considered a classic work of Czech literature. The book was inspired by Němcová‘s own childhood in the village of Ratibořice, where she lived with her parents, siblings and maternal grandmother, Magdalena Novotná. and Magdaléna Pokorná.