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Největší Čech

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King Charles IV, the winner of the poll

Největší Čech (The Greatest Czech) is the Czech spin-off of the BBC Greatest Britons show;[1] a television poll of the populace to name the greatest Czech in history.[2] The series was broadcast by the national public-service broadcaster, Czech Television.[1] The presenter of the programme was Marek Eben,[3] who was also nominated to be in the Top 100; however, since he was presenting the show he was not eligible to be included in the final list.

The counting and ranking of the nomination votes took place during January 2005; the top 100 were announced on 5 May; and the final rankings were announced on 10 June 2005. The first round was won by the fictional genius Jára Cimrman, but he was disqualified.[4][5]

List of Greatest Czechs

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  1. King Charles IV, Bohemian king (1346–1378) and Emperor (1355–1378), founder of Charles Bridge and Charles University – 68,713 votes
  2. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937) – first Czechoslovak president (1918–1935) – 55,040 votes
  3. Václav Havel (1936–2011) – last Czechoslovak (1989–1992) and first Czech president (1993–2003)
  4. John Amos Comenius (1592–1670) – philosopher and pedagogue, "Teacher of Nations"
  5. Jan Žižka (1360–1424) – Hussite general, leader of Czech resistance to the Holy Roman Empire and Catholic Church
  6. Jan Werich (1905–1980) – actor, playwright and author
  7. Jan Hus (1369–1415) – religious reformer
  8. Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) – composer
  9. Karel Čapek (1890–1938) – writer, author of R.U.R.
  10. Božena Němcová – writer, author of The Grandmother
  11. Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) – composer
  12. Emil Zátopek (1922–2000) – athlete, Olympic winner
  13. Karel Gott (1939–2019) – pop singer
  14. George of Poděbrady (1430–1471) – utraquist king
  15. František Palacký (1798–1876) – historian and politician
  16. Ottokar II of Bohemia (1233–1278) – king, known as "Iron and Gold King"
  17. Saint Wenceslaus (907–935) – duke (922–935) and patron saint of Bohemia
  18. Václav Klaus (1941–) – second president of the Czech Republic (2003–2013)
  19. Jaroslav Heyrovský (1890–1967) – chemist, Nobel prize laureate
  20. Saint Agnes of Bohemia (1211–1282) – princess and saint, founder of first Prague hospital
  21. Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932) – first republic businessman
  22. Edvard Beneš (1884–1948) – second Czechoslovak president (1935–1938, in exile 1940–1945, 1945–1948)
  23. Otto Wichterle (1913–1998) – chemist, inventor of contact lenses
  24. Jaroslav Seifert (1901–1986) – poet, Nobel Prize laureate
  25. Zdeněk Svěrák (1936–) – playwright, screenwriter, actor and "cimrmanologist"
  26. Emmy Destinn (1878–1930) – opera singer
  27. Jaromír Jágr (1972–) – ice hockey player
  28. Maria Theresa (1717–1780) – queen
  29. Karel Kryl (1944–1994) – dissident singer-songwriter
  30. Miloš Forman (1932–2018) – film director
  31. Vlasta Burian (1891–1962) – actor, "king of comedians"
  32. Roman Šebrle (1974–) – decathlete, Olympic winner
  33. Ivan Hlinka (1950–2004) – ice hockey player and coach
  34. Karel Havlíček Borovský (1821–1856) – journalist and writer
  35. Daniel Landa (1968–) – singer
  36. Milada Horáková (1901–1950) – victim of Nazism and later communism (hanged in 1950)
  37. Vladimír Menšík (1929–1988) – actor
  38. Jaroslav Hašek (1883–1923) – writer, author of The Good Soldier Švejk
  39. Alfons Mucha (1860–1939) – art nouveau painter
  40. Jan Evangelista Purkyně (1787–1869) – biologist and physician
  41. Pavel Nedvěd (1972–) – footballer (European footballer of the year 2003)
  42. Jan Janský (1873–1921) – neurologist and psychiatrist, discoverer of four blood types
  43. František Křižík (1847–1941) – inventor, engineer and industrialist
  44. Jan Železný (1966–) – Olympic athlete
  45. Jan Palach (1948–1969) – protester against Soviet invasion of 1968 (self-immolated)
  46. Věra Čáslavská (1942–2016) – Olympic athlete
  47. Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) – composer
  48. Alois Jirásek (1851–1930) – playwright and author
  49. Jaromír Nohavica (1953–) – musician
  50. Jan Masaryk (1886–1948) – Czechoslovak secretary of foreign affairs (1940–48)
  51. Bohumil Hrabal (1914–1997) – writer
  52. Jan Neruda (1834–1891) – writer
  53. Josef Jungmann (1773–1847) – linguist and translator
  54. Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) – geneticist, "father of genetics"
  55. Franz Kafka (1883–1924) – writer
  56. František Tomášek (1899–1992) – archbishop of Prague
  57. Saint Adalbert (956–997) – saint
  58. Josef Bican (1913–2001) – football player
  59. Josef Kajetán Tyl (1808–1856) – playwright
  60. Lucie Bílá (1966–) – pop singer
  61. Karel Hynek Mácha (1810–1836) – poet
  62. Saint Ludmila (860–921) – grandmother of the Czech patron St. Wenceslaus
  63. Boleslav Polívka (1949–) – actor
  64. Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (1552–1612) – king
  65. Josef Dobrovský (1753–1829) – philologist
  66. Josef Lada (1753–1829) – painter
  67. Rudolf Hrušínský (1920–1994) – actor
  68. Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (1271–1305) – king
  69. Madeleine Albright (1937–2022) – politician, US secretary of state
  70. Aneta Langerová (1986–) – pop singer, Česko hledá SuperStar winner
  71. Ottokar I of Bohemia (1155–1230) – king, conqueror
  72. Ludvík Svoboda (1895–1975) – communist president
  73. Dominik Hašek (1965–) – ice hockey player
  74. John of Bohemia (1296–1346) – king, father of Charles IV
  75. Milan Baroš (1981–) – footballer
  76. Karel Jaromír Erben (1811–1870) – poet
  77. Saint Zdislava (1200–1252) – saint
  78. Jaroslav Foglar (1907–1999) – writer
  79. Ladislav Smoljak (1931–2010) – actor and writer, actor and "cimrmanologist"
  80. Olga Havlová (1933–1996) – wife of Václav Havel, former Czechoslovak and Czech president
  81. Martina Navratilova (1956–) – tennis player
  82. Helena Růžičková (1936–2004) – actress
  83. Pavel Tigrid (1917–2003) – writer
  84. Elisabeth of Bohemia (1292–1330) – queen
  85. Milan Kundera (1929–2023) – writer
  86. Vladimír Remek (1948–) – cosmonaut and politician
  87. Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (915-972?) – king
  88. Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová (1785–1845) – writer
  89. Mikoláš Aleš (1852–1913) – painter
  90. Emil Holub (1847–1907) – physician, traveler and writer
  91. František Fajtl (1912–2006) – fighter pilot in World War II
  92. Klement Gottwald (1896–1953) – first Communist president of Czechoslovakia
  93. Zdeněk Matějček (1922–2004)– pediatrician
  94. Jiří Voskovec (1905–1981)– actor
  95. Marta Kubišová (1942–) – singer and actress
  96. Jiřina Bohdalová (1931–) – actress
  97. Miloslav Šimek (1940–2004) – actor
  98. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) – psychiatrist, teacher of Carl Gustav Jung
  99. Samo (600–658) – ruler of the so-called Samo's Realm
  100. Miloš Zeman (1944–) – third Czech president (since 2013)

The Greatest Villain

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At the same time as the nominations, an Internet vote for the greatest villain of Czech history was held.[6] The top ten were:

  1. Klement Gottwald (1896–1953) – first Communist president of Czechoslovakia (1948–53)
  2. Stanislav Gross (1969–2015) – 20th/21st-century politician, Czech Republic PM
  3. Václav Klaus (1941–) – 20th/21st-century politician, president of Czech Republic
  4. Vladimír Železný (1945–) – 20th/21st-century television businessman, founder of TV Nova, charged with an extensive tunnelling fraud
  5. Miroslav Kalousek (1960–) – 20th/21st-century politician, leader of Christian Democratic party
  6. Miroslav Grebeníček (1947–) – leader of Communist Party of Moravia and Bohemia
  7. Viktor Kožený (1963–) – 20th/21st-century financial figure, fugitive financier, nicknamed "the pirate of Prague"
  8. Milouš Jakeš (1922–2020) – 20th-century politician, General Secretary of Czechoslovak Communist Party before and during Velvet Revolution
  9. Zdeněk Škromach (1956–) – former minister of work and social affairs
  10. Gustáv Husák (1913–1991) – 20th-century politician, last Communist president of Czechoslovakia

Jára Cimrman

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The first round of official voting for Greatest Czech was won by the fictional character Jára Cimrman created by Czech humorists Jiří Šebánek, Zdeněk Svěrák (who himself took the 25th place) and Ladislav Smoljak (79th). The fact that he is not a real person disqualified him from taking the title, as the rules stated that "it is only possible to vote for someone who was either born on, lived on, or in any way acted on the soil of Bohemia, Moravia or Czech Silesia."[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "BBC expanduje se svou zábavou" (in Czech). Týden. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Souboj titánů" (in Czech). ČT24. 21 February 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  3. ^ "ČT bude hledat Největšího Čecha". novinky.cz. 2 December 2004. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  4. ^ Navara, Luděk (23 February 2005). "Ctíme Cimrmana. Jsme normální?" (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  5. ^ "Největší Čech – O projektu – Top 100". Ceskatelevize.cz. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Vedle Největšího Čecha lidé vyberou i padoucha" (in Czech). novinky.cz. 1 April 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  7. ^ The Prague Post
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