Božena Němcová was a Czechoslovakian writer of the final phase of the Czechoslovakian National Revival movement.
Background
According to the dating up to now accepted by the majority of Czechoslovakian authors, Božena Němcová was born in 1820 as Barbara Pankel (or Barbora Panklová according to the usual Czechoslovakian name-giving for women) in Vienna as a daughter of Johann Pankel from Lower Austria and Teresie Novotná, a maid of Bohemian origin.
Career
Her image features on the 500 CZK denomination of the banknotes of the Czechoslovakian koruna. The marriage was arranged by Barbora"s parents and became an unhappy one, as the married couple didn"t understand each other very well. Němec was said to be a rude and authoritarian manitoba
He was a Bohemian patriot, which his superiors didn"t like, and he was often transferred to different locations, and later lost his job.
The family had four children and suffered from a lack of money. The Bohemian patriots arranged a magnificent funeral for her.
Some authors question the birthdate (the preserved documents differ) and the real origin of Božena Němcová. According to one hypothesis, Němcová could have been born three to four years earlier than previously thought, and be an illegitimate daughter of Wilhelmine, Duchess of Sagan (1781–1839).
Helena Sobková, a writer of popular-history books about Němcová, believes that Němcová may actually have been the niece of Wilhelmine.
In 1816 an illegitimate daughter was born to Wilhelmine"s younger sister, Dorothée de Talleyrand-Périgord, and Count Karel January Clam-Martinic (1792–1840) in Bourbon-l"Archambault (a French spa). None of these speculations, however, have been definitely proven by serious historical research.