Frantisek Ladislav Celakovsky was a famous Czech poet, translator, literary critic, and linguist. He was one of the main figures of the Czech national revival. Celakovsky was born in 1799 into a family of carpenters in the town of Strakonice, located in the South Bohemian region. He died in 1852 at age of 53 years. 

During his school years, he attended a high school in the city of Ceske Budejovice and later in the town of Pisek. After high school, he studied philosophy in the city of Prague. Due to lack of money, he had to end his studies there and switch to a lyceum in the town of Ceske Budejovice instead, but he was forced to transfer again to the city of Linz because he enjoyed reading the works of Jan Hus. Later, he continued his studies at Charles University in the city of Prague. He focused more on his self-studies instead of the required classes, and because of this he failed his logic exam in 1822 and never managed to get a degree. 

Until 1829, Celakovsky worked as a private tutor, then he managed to get a job as a translator of the City of God, written by Saint Augustine. In 1830, he was offered to set up a Slavic library in Russia together with Wenceslaus Hanka and Pavel Safarik, however, the offer was later canceled. From 1829 to 1842 he worked as a proofreader for a magazine for the Catholic clergy. He also worked as an editor for The Prague newspaper and The Czech Bee, to which he added texts from foreign languages. In 1835, Celakovsky was named as a professor of the Czech language and literature in Prague. Due to his negative comments towards Russian Tsar Nicholas I, he was removed from both positions. For the following two years, Celakovsky had to make a living solely from translations. In 1841 he managed to get a job as a Slavic professor in the city of Wroclaw. Then in 1849, he got the same position in the city of Prague. 

Celakovsky has written numerous famous poems during the pre-romanticism period. The biggest inspiration was the Czech national revival and Slavic folklore. He sometimes used his pseudonym, Marcian Hromotluk. Celakovsky also used to release poems between the years 1821 and 1823 under the name Zofie Jandova to demonstrate the high level of Czech literature. His most important work, National Songs of the Slavs is a two-part collection of Slavic folk songs, especially Bohemian, Slovak, and Moravian, but other Slavic countries are included as well. Another work of Celakovsky, Echoes of Russian Songs is a collection of epic poems from Russian folklore. Echoes of Bohemian Songs are very similar, but his inspiration came from Czech folklore instead.