Ladislav Malý (1862-1956)

He was born on 17 March 1862 in Příbram into the family of Šebestián Malý, a teacher, and Johana, the daughter of Václav Houska, a wealthy Příbram burgher. He attended the local junior high school and, after his father's unexpected death in 1877, the local teachers' institute. The unhappy conditions that prevailed in the school at that time forced him to transfer to the Prague Teacher's Institute. After graduating in 1881, he became a sub-teacher at Dobříš, and after two years he was transferred to Březové Hory.

In 1887 he married Kamila Maria Herrman, daughter of the prince's forest manager Vojtěch Herrman. He used his holidays to travel around our countries, Central and Southern Europe. In 1897 he was appointed head teacher in Stará Hut near Dobříš. He made teaching aids himself and at his own expense. He participated in cultural, social and social life in Příbram, Dobříš and other surrounding villages. In 1923 he retired and returned to Příbram. He became the administrator of the local museum, which he initiated in 1886. From 1929 he published the Bulletin of the Municipal Museum in Příbram, in which he also published his minor regional works. He died in Příbram on 4 March 1956.

His written estate has been stored in the State District Archive in Příbram since 1979. It contains works of local history - travelogues and guidebooks and historical works - dedicated to the history of the region. Fiction is represented by Malý's fairy tales, short stories, novels, legends, and plays. An important group consists of his works on toys, such as his work Hračky dzieci československých (Prague 1895, 355 pp.)

He also published in print, for example, the titles New Guide to Příbram and its Surroundings (1911), Guide to Dobříš and its Surroundings (1911) and the comprehensive Příbram and Dobříš Region (1930).

Source: The written estate of Ladislav Malý. The State District Archive Příbram, 1981.

Processed by: PhDr. Věra Smolová, Director of SOA Příbram