Bohemian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Bohemian (disambiguation).
Bohemians are inhabitants of Bohemia, Czech Republic. The term used to designate inhabitants of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, located in the modern day Czech Republic. The name derived from the Latin term for the Celtic tribe (Boii) inhabiting that area (Tacitus: Boiohaemum) in the early Middle Ages. The word "Bohemians" was never used by the local Czech population. In Czech, the region was since early Middle Ages called only "Čechy" - Bohemia or "Království české" - Kingdom of Bohemia, and its mainly Czech-speaking inhabitants "Češi".
In other European vernaculars and in Latin (Bohemi) the word "Bohemian" or its derivates was used to designate all inhabitants of Bohemia. If the Czech ethnic origin was to be stressed, combinations like "Bohemian of Bohemian language", "a real Bohemian" etc. were used.
The term "Bohemian" was often used to describe the inhabitants of the Austrian Empire's province of Bohemia. This could include a number of ethnicities, including Germans (including Austrians), Czechs, Roma, Poles, Hungarians, and Slovaks.
It was not until the 19th century when other European languages started to use the word "Czechs" (in English), "Tschechen" (in German) or tchèques (in French) in a deliberate (and successful) attempt to distinguish between ethnic Czechs and other inhabitants of Bohemia. Nowadays "Bohemians" is still used when there is need to distinguish between inhabitants of the western part of the Czech Republic (Bohemia) and the eastern part (Moravia).
It is not clear how the word acquired its secondary meaning (see Bohemianism or Bohemian (disambiguation)), but it is believed that it comes from the French idea that Gypsies originated from Bohemia (while they were travelling from there).
In modern usage, the term "bohemian" can describe any person who lives an unconventional artistic life, where self-expression is the highest value — that art (acting, poetry, writing, singing, dancing, painting etc) is a serious and main focus of their life. The term was applied particularly to the poets and writers of Carmel-by-the-Sea and the Bloomsbury Group in the first half of the 20th century, and, early in the 21st century, to a style of female fashion ("boho-chic").
Bohemian still carries its original usage in many parts of the United States where large groups of Bohemians immigrated.
