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The Good Soldier Švejk |
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Franz Ferdinand and Sophie Chotek leave the Sarajevo Town Hall, 5 minutes before the assassination, June 28 1914.
"The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk" is a novel with an unusually rich array of characters. In addition to the many who directly form part of the plot, a large number of fictive and real people (and animals) are mentioned; either through Švejks anecdotes, the narrative or indirectly through words and expressions.
This web page will in due course contain a full overview of names mentioned in the novel; from Napoleon in the introduction to Captain Ságner in the last few lines of the unfinished Book Four. The list is sorted according to the order which the names appear in the novel. The chapter headlines are from Zenny K. Sadlon's recent translation and will in most cases differ from Cecil Parrott's older version.
- The facts are mainly taken from Wikipedia but verified against other sources
- The quotes in Czech are copied from the online version of Švejk provided by Jaroslav Šerák and contain links to the relevant chapter
- The toolbar has links for direct access to Wikipedia, Google maps, Google search and Švejk online
Please note that translation of the personal names in a some cases differ between the Parrott and Sadlon translations. In these cases I have used Wikipedia and other online sources for the most up to date rendering in English, with Sadlon's and Parrott's translations footnoted in the corresponding description.
The names are colored according to their role in the novel, illustrated by the following examples: Doctor Grünstein who is directly involved in the plot, Heinrich Heine as a historical person, and Ferdinand Kokoška as an invented person, mentioned in dialogues and anecdotes.
The Good Soldier Švejk list of people mentioned in the novel
show all (508)
Book one. In the rear
1. The good soldier Švejk acts to intervene in the world war (24)
14. Švejk as military servant to senior lieutenant Lukáš (35)
Book two. At the front
2. Švejk's budějovická anabasis (52)
3. Švejk's happenings in Királyhida (41)
5. From Bruck on the Leitha toward Sokal (44)
Book three. The famous thrashing
1. Across Magyaria (54)
2. In Budapest (34)
3. From Hatvan to the borders of Galicia (33)
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Book one. In the rear |
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4. They threw Švejk out of the madhouse | |||
| The Virgin Mary | | ||||
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The Virgin Mary was the mother of Christ and the principal saint of the Catholic Church. In the New Testament she is featured in the gospels and in the deeds of the Apostles. At the Ecumenical Council of Efesos in 431, the Council Fathers bestowed here the title Theotokos, 'Mother of God'. The Quran portrays here as selected by God above all women in the world; she is mentioned in seven chapters in the Quran, one of them with her name as the title. She features in numerous works of art, where she is usually just called 'Madonna' - 'Our Lady'.
Context
The Virgin Mary was someone the inmates of the lunatic asylum could pretend to be. Otherwise she is already mentioned through the common Czech expression Ježíšmarjá. This is exclaimed by Švejk already in the first dialogue of the novel, when he hears the news about the assassination of Sarajevo. Her name is used in this and similar variations throughout the novel.
Quote from the novel
Člověk se tam může vydávat za pánaboha nebo za panenku Marii, nebo za papeže, nebo za anglickýho krále, nebo za císaře pána, nebo za sv. Václava, ačkoliv ten poslední byl pořád svázanej a nahej a ležel v isolaci. ... more
Also written:Panenka Marie Hašek Panna Maria cz Jungfrau Maria de
| Saint Cyril | | ||||
| *827 Solun (ved Thessaloniki) - †869 Roma | |||||
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Saint Cyril was a Greek missionary, later to become a saint, who together with his brother Methodius startet the christianisation of the Slavic peoples. The Cyrillic alphabet is named after him. During his lifetime he was known as Constantin.
Context
Saint Cyril was mentioned when Švejk told about his stay in the lunatic asylum. One of the inmates claimed to be Saints Cyril and Methodius in order to get two portions.
Quote from the novel
Jeden se tam dokonce vydával za svatýho Cyrila a Metoděje, aby dostával dvě porce. ... more
Also written:Svatý Cyril cz Kyrill von Saloniki de
| Saint Methodius | | ||||
| *815 Solun (ved Thessaloniki) - †6.4.885 Mähren | |||||
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Saint Methodius was a Greek missionary, later to become a saint, who together with his younger brother Cyril startet the christianisation of the Slavic peoples. During his lifetime he was known as Michael. The two brothers are often referred to as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They translated the Bible to what is now called Old Church Slavonic.
Context
Saint Methodius was mentioned when Švejk told about his stay in the lunatic asylum. One of the inmates claimed to be Saints Cyril and Methodius in order to get two portions.
Quote from the novel
Jeden se tam dokonce vydával za svatýho Cyrila a Metoděje, aby dostával dvě porce. ... more
Also written:Svatý Metoděj cz Method von Saloniki de
| Jan Otto | | ||||
| *8.11.1841 Přibyslav - †29.5.1916 Praha | |||||
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Jan Otto was a Czech publisher best known as the founder of Ottův slovník naučný (Otto's Encyclopedia), regarded as an outstanding work of reference also in an international context. The later president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Masasryk, was for a period editor of the encyclopedia. A total of 28 volumes were released between 1888 and 1910. Otto's Encyclopedia was in its time one of the largest in the world.
Context
Jan Otto was indirectly mentioned in connection with the mental patitent who claimed to be the 16th part of Otto's Encyclopedia.
Quote from the novel
Nejzuřivější byl jeden pán, kerej se vydával za 16. díl Ottova slovníku naučného a každého prosil, aby ho otevřel a našel heslo ,Kartonážní šička’, jinak že je ztracenej. ... more
| Alfred Windischgrätz | | |||||
| *11.5.1787 Brussel - †21.3.1862 Wien | ||||||
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Alfred Windischgrätz was an Austrian field marshal who in 1848 with brutal means crushed the uprisings in Prague and Vienna during the revolutions of that year. Windischgrätz also led the Imperial forces against the insurgents of Lajos Kossuth in Hungary the following year, but failed and was deposited. The rebellion was only put down after Russian forces intervened. Windischgrätz had also taken part in the Napolionic wars. The Windischgrätz family owned large properties in western Bohemia and his coffin rests in the Kladruby monastery which he bought in 1825.
His full name was Alfred Candidus Ferdinand Fürst zu Windisch-Graetz.
Context
Alfred Windischgrätz is in the book only referred to in a song which Švejk mentions when one of the court doctors asks him which songs he knows. In chapter 7 he sings this song in bed, stricken by rheumatism and full of patriotic fervour, just before he is carted off to war in wheelchair by Mrs Müllerová.
Quote from the novel
A také to dál neumím,“ vzdychl Švejk. „Znám ještě první sloku z ,Kde domov můj’ a potom ,Jenerál Windischgrätz a vojenští páni od východu slunce vojnu započali’ a ještě pár takových národních písniček jako ,Zachovej nám, Hospodine’ a ,Když jsme táhli k Jaroměři’ a ,Tisíckrát pozdravujeme Tebe’...“ ... more
Also written:Alfred Windisch-Graetz
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