Page - 82 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

82 ♦  Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 criticized Thun-Hohenstein for promoting other philosophical discourses,174 these nominations were a clear sign of changing influences with regard to education. The difficulty of finding professors acceptable to all parties appears in the case of the first scholars of philosophy teaching in Prague after 1848, Augustin Smetana and Ignaz Jan Hanusch (Ignac Jan Hanuš). When Exner left a professorship in Prague to join the ministry in Vienna, his provisory replacement was Smetana, his student and assistant in Prague, expected to be his successor despite his open Hegelianism. As a provisional teacher at the university, Smetana read Kant directly after the revolution; however, the ministry canceled his lecture on Hegel, which had been planned for the second semester and which he published the same year as a brochure.175 Notwithstanding his extensive networks, including Exner (whom Smetana asked directly for support) and scholars abroad, the young philosopher could not find a position, neither at a university nor at a gymnasium. His position certainly worsened after his conflict with church authorities when he left the Catholic Church, which also distanced him from Exner.176 Smetana’s failure, however, opened the door for his close friend Hanuš, formerly a professor in L’viv, who was appointed to the chair of philos- ophy in May 1849.177 The careers of both friends remained intrinsically linked, however. Stricken with financial difficulties, and disappointed about the withdrawal of political and religious liberalism, Smetana, who had long-standing health problems, died in 1851 at the age of thirty-seven. According to rumors, in his final hours, Hanuš protected his bed from church officials; the dying philosopher had asked his friends to ensure that the church authorities would not be able to spread rumors that he had returned to the church in the last moments of his life.178 Despite political and church antagonism, Smetana’s funeral turned into a sympathetic display of liberal- ism, causing problems and political consequences for the participants as well as for the university. Smetana was a member of the Doktoren-Collegium, and the faculty thus had the right, or even the moral obligation, to send rep- resentatives to the funeral, which must have caused some friction, to say the least.179 Despite the risk, Hanuš was present at the funeral, and he also asked his students to participate; the funeral turned into a demonstration against the church and its influence on the state, making Smetana a memorable figure until today (see figure 2). This caused problems in Hanuš’s relations with both the police and the Catholic professors in Prague.180 Accused by the local priests of antireligious sentiments and Hegelianism, accusations that