Ratiboř

Based on research in archives and the school chronicles of the institutions where he worked, I would like to present this figure from our region as an educator, a local historian, a collector of folk legends, and a regional author and writer.

He was born on January 30, 1905, in Třebětice near Holešov. After graduating from the teacher training college in Kroměříž, he began working at the elementary school in Provodov on October 1, 1924. As a young, beginning teacher, he then worked at schools in Chvalčova Lhota, at the Municipal School in Holešov, at the Boys’ Elementary School in Bystřice pod Hostýnem, and in Všechovice. It was in Všechovice that his interest in collecting folklore and studying the region’s local history deepened significantly. He began systematically gathering and recording local legends and promoting his native region through articles in the regional press.

From Všechovice, he moved to the Elementary School in Nový Hrozenkov. He also worked as a teacher in Halenkov, in the Dinotice Valley.

From 1936 to 1946, he taught at the Elementary School in Ratiboř, and at the end of World War II, he served as head teacher there. In this role, he succeeded head teacher Josef Hrbáč on September 1, 1944, who had been punished by being reassigned to a teaching position in Hošťálková for misconduct in his administrative duties. According to the findings of the provincial school inspector, the most serious misconduct was the retroactive addition to the school chronicle of details regarding the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich, which could have been viewed at the time as tantamount to approving the assassination.

On the Ratiboř municipal council, František Sovadina served as chairman of the education and library committee.

Even during his time as a teacher, František Sovadina gradually began to experience health problems. According to medical reports by Dr. Glossauer of Hošťálková, he suffered from cardiac arrhythmia, rheumatoid arthritis, and recurrent purulent tonsillitis, which weakened his overall condition.

In February 1946, he was hospitalized at the public hospital in Kroměříž. Although suspicion of meningitis was ruled out there, his health continued to deteriorate. He gradually fell into a coma and lost the ability to speak coherently. On February 15, 1946, acting headteacher Josef Frydrych informed the school board in Vsetín of his condition.

Despite all medical care, František Sovadina was unable to overcome his health crisis. On March 23, 1946, he succumbed to his illness at the age of only 41. The funeral service was held on March 27, 1946, at 9:30 a.m. in his hometown of Třebětice, where he was buried in the family grave.

The Literary Work of František Sovadina – Trébský

During his time in Ratiboř, he began to devote himself intensively to literary creation and published his works through the Fr. J. Balatka publishing house in Holešov. In his literary work, he began using the pseudonym Trébský, which apparently stems from the historical context of his native village. The village of Třebětice, where František Sovadina was born, was founded as early as the 13th century by a nobleman named Tréba. The original name of the village was Tréby, and the first written mention of it dates back to 1339. František Sovadina’s close connection to history and regional history thus provides a logical explanation for his choice of literary pseudonym.

His best-known literary works include *Pasekářka*, *Holešovský okres*, *V pravěku*, *Životopisné črty*, *Vesnice žije*, *Z minulosti Holešovska*, and *Kytička pověstí z Holešovska a Bystřicka*.

Most of his literary works are unavailable today, yet I managed to obtain his novel collection “Jediná” from a used bookstore. The literary work “Pasekářka,” which may draw inspiration from our village of Ratiboř, is also currently unavailable.

The only easily accessible work is A Bouquet of Legends from the Holešov and Bystřice Regions, published in Holešov in 1936 and reissued in Brno in 2018. It is a book of legends, folktales, and myths. Some titles from the table of contents: “The Treasure at Lukov Castle,” “On the Coat of Arms of the Bítovský Family from Bítov near Bystřice nad Hradcem,” “Giants in Obřany,” “A Tale of the Tatars near Hostýn,” “On the Origin of the Name Třebětice,” and others.

Thanks to my collaboration with Mrs. Ludmila Stratilová from Třebětice, I managed to discover another forgotten work by F. X. Trébský in her library: “In the Afterglow – Memoir Sketches,” published in Uherské Hradiště in 1931.

In our village, František Sovadina – Trébský is mentioned only by name and without a pseudonym in the annual brochures of the local school and in the publication “Ratiboř – a Wallachian Village,” published in 2006.

The town of Holešov, in recognition of his literary and regional-historical work, has included František Sovadina among the town’s notable figures. This fact attests to his extraordinary significance and contribution to the region. His untimely death was a significant loss not only for education but also for regional cultural and local history activities, to which he devoted a considerable part of his life.

Stanislav Haša

hasastanislav@centrum.cz