# Karel Absolon

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Karel_Absolon
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Karel_Absolon.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Absolon
> Source revision: 1351218477
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Czech geographer (1877–1960)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}{{Infobox scientist
| name = Karel Absolon
| image = Karel absolon.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = Karel Absolon
| birth_date = {{birth date|1877|6|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = [Boskovice](/source/Boskovice), [Austria-Hungary](/source/Austria-Hungary)
| birth_name = 
| death_date = {{death date and age|1960|10|6|1877|6|16|df=y}}
| death_place = [Brno](/source/Brno), [Czechoslovakia](/source/Czechoslovakia)
| resting_place = 
| residence = 
| citizenship = 
| ethnicity = 
| field = [Paleontology](/source/Paleontology)
| work_institutions = 
| alma_mater = 
| doctoral_advisor = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for = 
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences = 
| influenced = 
| prizes = 
| religion = 
| footnotes = 
| signature = 
}}

'''Karel Absolon''' (16 June 1877 – 6 October 1960) was a [Czech](/source/Czech_Republic) [archaeologist](/source/archaeologist), [geographer](/source/geographer), [paleontologist](/source/paleontologist), and [speleologist](/source/speleology). He was born in [Boskovice](/source/Boskovice).

Absolon was the grandchild of paleontologist [Jindřich Wankel](/source/Jindrich_Wankel) and the son of [Karla Absolonová-Bufková](/source/Karla_Absolonov%C3%A1-Bufkov%C3%A1).<ref name="slavne">{{cite web |title=Slavné osobnosti - Karel Absolon |url=https://www.brno.cz/obcan/vyznamne-osoby-a-vyroci/slavne-osobnosti/?pg=detail&idosobnosti=1 |website=brno.cz |accessdate=18 March 2020}}</ref> During his studies at [Charles University in Prague](/source/Charles_University) he started with speleological research in the [cave](/source/cave)s of [Moravský kras](/source/Moravian_Karst) (''Moravian Karst'') in the [Moravia](/source/Moravia) of what is now the [Czech Republic](/source/Czech_Republic). In 1907 he became the custodian of the [Moravian museum](/source/Moravske_zemske_muzeum) in [Brno](/source/Brno) and a professor of [paleoanthropology](/source/paleoanthropology) at the [Charles University in Prague](/source/Charles_University_in_Prague) in 1926.<ref name="slavne"/>

His most known works are the paleoanthropologic discoveries at [Dolní Věstonice](/source/Dolni_Vestonice) which include a [Venus figurine](/source/Venus_of_Dolni_Vestonice). He worked on the systemic mapping of the Moravský kras, including the ''[Macocha Abyss](/source/Macocha_Abyss)'' and the ''Pekárna'', ''Punkevní'' and ''Kateřinská'' caves. He also explored [karstic](/source/karst_topography) caves in the [Balkans](/source/Balkans), [France](/source/France), and [England](/source/England).<ref name="slavne"/> Absolon was very skilled in promoting himself and in popularizing his discoveries as a way to lure sponsors.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cílek|first=Václav|title=Karel Absolon v pravém světle aneb o knize, která se do soupisu literatury nedostala
|url=http://www.speleo.cz/soubory/speleo/sp11/absolon.htm |date=2007-02-21 |accessdate=2012-04-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221030316/http://www.speleo.cz/soubory/speleo/sp11/absolon.htm |archivedate=February 21, 2007 }}</ref>

Absolon died on 6 October 1960 in [Brno](/source/Brno).<ref name="slavne"/> In 1961 a cave on the foot of Mt. Maggiore in the Italian [Apuan Alps](/source/Apuan_Alps) was discovered and named after Absolon.<ref>[http://www.frystak.cz/anglhist.htm 1241] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430123840/http://www.frystak.cz/anglhist.htm |date=April 30, 2009 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[Venus of Dolní Věstonice](/source/Venus_of_Doln%C3%AD_V%C4%9Bstonice)

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
* [http://www.mzm.cz/zivot-a-dilo-prof-k-absolona/ Absolon biography (in Czech)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213120959/http://www.mzm.cz/zivot-a-dilo-prof-k-absolona/ |date=2016-02-13 }}
* [https://www.proquest.com/openview/01883d011f30db062edc47de654c082c/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2029360 Půtová, B.: Natural history objects, casts and reconstructions and their role in scientific work in the 19th and 20th century: Karel Absolon's collecting activity. Anthropologie: International Journal of Human Diversity and Evolution 59(2), 2021, s. 113−132.]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Absolon, Karel}}
Category:Czech paleontologists
Category:Czech archaeologists
Category:Speleologists
Category:People from Boskovice
Category:1877 births
Category:1960 deaths
Category:Burials at Brno Central Cemetery
Category:Charles University alumni

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Karel Absolon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Absolon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Absolon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.