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- «b»Julius [I] KUBERT
«/b»«i»(July 6, 1864 in Rokycany '96 December 6, 1907 in Praha)
«/i»Julius came from a well-heeled Czech family from Rokycany, where his father was a Pharmacy owner. Apparently, he did not show inclination for learning and finally found his place in the military. After graduation from a military academy he received a commission of a Captain (Hauptmann) in the Infantry, which brought him ultimately to České Budějovice, where he met his future wife. Vlastislav paints a rather unflattering picture of his brother-in-law. Undoubtedly, this conveys his parents' opinion as well. According to the «i»Narrative «/i»Julius [I] had been accustomed to luxury, which he could easily afford. Even in the Army he kept two personal riding horses, enjoyed service of two
batmen, travelled only first class etc. He travelled a lot and even ventured to Chicago in «i»1893 «/i» to
visit the World Fair. He readily displayed arrogance and haughtiness.
Before meeting Bohumila he sought out German speaking company in České Budějovice and communicated with his brother in German. The latter was very likely a major issue for Bohumila's father. August [I] Zátka love for, and expression of Czech culture and language by Czech nationals was a litmus test for a character of a person. Nevertheless, in the «i»Narrative «/i»Vlastislav quotes from a letter by then widowed Bohumila«b», «/b» in which she fervently disputes this harsh characterization of her husband Julius [I]. Unfortunately the date of the letter is obviously incorrect; therefore we do not know when Bohumila wrote it. In the letter the loyal widow bravely counters all the "accusations", and paints a picture of a kind, sensitive gentleman and loving father of his little daughter Eva, and of a Czech with deep nationalistic and patriotic feelings and mastery of the Czech language. Since
Czech was his mother tongue, he allegedly struggled with German during his studies.
I cannot avoid suspicion that both the Vlastislav's character sketch and the apology by his widow were written from extreme positions.
I dare to offer the following reflection: an officer of Czech or any other Slavic nationality in the Austrian Imperial Army must have felt under pressure to demonstrate his loyalty to the Monarchy even more strongly than an ethnic German-Austrian. It is not difficult to imagine Julius' [I] anxiety and eagerness to become accepted into the German-speaking officer corps. It is easy again to imagine how such ambition might have led him to overstate his loyalty by an excessive display of German sympathies, by an association with German fellow officers and by favoring the German element in his social interactions.
Nonetheless, Julius [I] complied with his future father-in-law's precondition before the latter granted him consent to marry his daughter. Julius [I] resigned his commission in the Army under the false pretext of ill health. Regrettably, he did not have any profession or aptitude for another occupation besides his military training. After having toyed with an idea of becoming a land-owner-manager, he resigned himself to a life of leisure. After a while this boring life prompted him to apply for the reclamation of his commission in the Army, which he was fortunately granted.
Julius [I] Kubert and Bohumila (Milka) settled in Praha, where both their children «b»Eva «/b»and «b»Julius [II] «/b» were born. Tragically, Julius [I] died only seven weeks after his son's birth, leaving the young widow with two little children.
(«u»Source«/u»: «i»From Petr PETRIK: "«b»FAMILY CHRONICLE: Family of Diana Špičková«/b»" «/i»)
- (Medical):«b»«i»Medical Comment
«/b»«/i»The tragic and astonishingly similar fates of «b»Julius [I] Kubert «/b»and his brother in law, «b»JUDr
Jindřich Rychlík«/b», first husband of Olga Zátková, prompts me to digress once more in the
medical field«b». «/b»Both Julius [I] Kubert and Jindřich Rychlík died of tertiary syphilis, with the form
affecting the central nervous system, colloquially known as general paralysis or general paresis
(or palsy) of the insane. In this day and age it is easy to forget how devastating disease syphilis
used to be when no effective treatment existed, in particular in its tertiary forms. The disease
affected all strata of society. It was only with the discovery of penicillin in early 1940's, that
effective treatment became available. The insidious early stages causing no hardship for the
infected person may mask the disease until it explodes in the terminal devastating stages, which
affect various vital organs, including the central nervous system. The involvement of the brain
and spinal cord by the disease results in disintegration of the personality and to motor
dysfunction. The disease was not unlike AIDS in our day, before the discovery of modern antiretroviral drugs.
Typically, the disease carried away young men and women in the flower of their lives, leaving behind despair, shame and financial ruin of families. Perhaps the most painful for the families was the personality change of the unfortunate victims, which was quite common. This is what happened to these two luckless young men.
«b»Julius [I] Kubert «/b»was«b» 41«/b», when the illness declared itself by his intellectual decline. He realized he could no longer cope with preparations of the examinations for staff officers. Motor dysfunction and personality change followed, the latter apparently for the better. According to Vlastislav, the illness transformed him into a meek, kind, patient and modest person. This only added to the pain of his close ones. He was discharged from the Army for the second time, this time for legitimate health reasons. He died at «b»43 «/b»after an accidental injury suffered under influence of the disease. Thus, he was mercifully spared of the disgrace of institutionalization.
«b»JUDr Jind Rychlík«/b», Olga's husband, became manifestly ill at 43 and died at 46. The similarity of the fates of the husbands of the two sisters gives an eerie sensation of the implacability of the hand of destiny. One must not, however forget that the disease was quite common in the upper middle class, and that the hypocritical prudish society is at least partly to be blamed for the spread of the disease amongst young gentlemen.
«b»Bohumila «/b»never remarried. She devoted her life to her orphaned children. Her father August [I], who shared with her the guardianship of the children, was ever important in her life. Besides caring for her children, her greatest joy was continuous learning, which she never gave up. Her English and her French became so good that she won a contract for translation of Galsworthy's Forsyth Saga. She accomplished this literary success with a minimal commercial reward. Nonetheless, the income earned from her translation work helped her to buy a small house in Libni which gave her independence and privacy she yearned for. For the sake of sparing others she kept her sorrows, pains and disappointments to herself. Thinking first of others and sparing them of worries appears to be a pattern throughout her life. This included her health problems. Neglect of her own health was a luxury she could hardly afford, as her health had never been robust. Typically, she kept mum about her troubles till advanced, causing in the end considerable worries for her daughter Eva and her husband MUDr Hilar [II] pi ka, who literally saved her life on a number of occasions.
At this point the «i»Narrative «/i»ends. Because Bohumila ("bábuška") spent the rest of her life with her daughter's Eva family, she is well remembered by her grandchildren, who all keep fondest memories of her. I was fortunate that I met her and knew her, before and after our marriage with Diana.
(Source: «i»From Petr PETRIK, MUDr : "«b»FAMILY CHRONICLE: Family of Diana Špičková«/b»" «/i»)
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1864 - 1907 (43 let)
