Franz Martin Pelzel, born on 11th of November, 1734 in Rychnov nad Kneznou was a Czech writer, historian, philologist, teacher, and a prominent figure during the Czech National Revival and Age of Enlightenment. He died in Prague on the 24th of February, 1801. 

 He studied at four different Christian grammar schools in his youth, first in Rychnov nad Kneznou, then in Hradec Kralove and finally graduated in Prague. He then attended the Charles University, where he studied theology. He abandoned his theology studies after few months and started studying law. He never finished his degree because he was forced to move to Vienna in May, 1757 due to the war between Prussia and Austria. His father died during that time, so he had to take care of his siblings when he came back in Autumn, 1757. 

 Since he already had some experience with education, he became a teacher in 1759 or 1760 and later went on to become a hofmeister for the Sternberg family. Not only did this allow him to live a comfortable lifestyle but it also gave him access to library of the Sternberg family, which included protestant texts that were banned at that time, mainly Respublica Boiema by Pavel Stransky. Pelzel was amazed and influenced by the democratic ideas in these texts.  

Thanks to a recommendation from the Sternberg family, Pelzel became a teacher and a hofmeister for the family of Franz Antonin Nostic. Apart from teaching, Pelzel also became a full-time librarian. 

 He started attending meetings of the Enlightenment Elite of that time which only strengthened his interest in the Bohemian identity and history. Because of that, Pelzel began  publishing his own works in the 1770s. He first published an encyclopaedia of Bohemian and Moravian scholars and artists of the 18th and 19th century in the year 1773.

He worked on publishing various other older texts and worked alongside Josef Dobrovsky on “Writers in the History of Bohemia”.  Between the years 1774 and 1782, Pelzel worked on “A brief history of Bohemia from ancient times till present day”, which was mostly based on his notes from his own lessons he taught, while working for the Nostic family. He also wrote biographies of important figures of Bohemian history, such as Charles IV, or Wenceslaus I.  

Pelzel married in the late 18th century and was looking for a new form of income. He wanted to become a professor of history at Charles University in Prague. The University denied his application however a professorship of the Czech language became available in 1792 and in 1793, Pelzel became the first professor of Czech language at the University. During this time Pelzel wrote and published new Czech textbooks and between the years 1791 and 1800 he published his life’s work entitled “New Chronicle of Bohemia”.  

Pelzel’s life was cut short due to his deteriorating health. He died in 1801, aged 66.