Page - 101 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

Chapter 3 ♦  101 than a decade).42 A number of Czech scholars also moved to universities abroad, thus becoming vehicles of scholarly transfer in the humanities and mathematics (Croatia, Bulgaria) and medicine (the Russian Empire).43 In fact, more scholars identifying with the Czech project had chairs abroad than in the empire. Most of them returned in 1882, forming the basis for the faculties of the Czech Charles-Ferdinand University, although some decided to continue their careers abroad. The dissolution of Bohemia into Czech and German public spheres was a gradual process, and most Czech scholars saw steady but inevitable eman- cipation as the guarantee of progress. Even nationally oriented scholars like Purkyně did not plead for an abrupt division but opted for the cohabitation of languages within scholarly institutions as the ideal state.44 The issue at stake was how to achieve this cohabitation and how to strengthen a language that by the 1860s was scarcely being used in academic matters. To guarantee the development of scholarship in Czech, several or- ganizations were established; among the first were the Union of Czech Mathematicians (Jednota českých matematiků), established in 1862 as the Society for Lectures on Mathematics and Physics (Spolek pro volné před- nášky z mathematiky a fysiky); the Society of Czech Chemists (Spolek chemiků českých), established in 1872; and the Society of Czech Physicians (Spolek lékařů českých), established in 1862. As nationalist institutions, these societies published Czech-language journals, adding to existing German-language revues.45 These developments highlighted, or made visi- ble, the division between the two linguistically codified scientific landscapes as well as adding to the linguistic division through the conscious choice to nationalize their proceedings and publications. Bohumil Eiselt, for example, wrote only for the main Czech-language medical journal, Časopis lékařův českých (Journal of Czech physicians), after its establishment, although he had previously published eagerly in the German-language journals of the Prague faculty. He was also responsible for making this journal purely Czech, translating a great number of articles that had been sent to him in German for the journal.46 Strikingly, most of these organizations began as Bohemian societies and underwent a process of nationalization in a few years. The Society of Czech Physicians included in its early years a broad range of Bohemian scholars; however, it conducted its activities in Czech, and its later development led toward cultural exclusivity. Also, the Union of Czech Mathematicians de- veloped from a multicultural to a linguistically monolithic organization.