Matěj Kopecký
Czech puppeteer
Matěj Kopecký (24 February 1775, probably in Libčany – 3 July 1847 in Koloděje nad Lužnicí) was a Czech puppeteer. For six generations his descendants followed the art of puppeteering.
Kopecký's father was a poor travelling puppeteer (histrio vagus). Matěj Kopecký married in 1795 and moved into the town of Mirotice. Since 1789 to 1808 or 1809 he was forced to serve in the army, within the infantry regiment from Písek. Later, he worked as watchmaker, travelling salesman or road worker. In 1818 he obtained licence for a puppet theatre and reached certain success in this activity. The parish record about his death, though, labels him as "a histrion from Mirotice, widower and beggar". Kopecký had at least fifteen children of which six had survived into adulthood. Most of them worked as puppeteers and the tradition was kept for six generations.
“Matěj Kopecký” enters the record as czech puppeteer. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Matěj, Kopecký and Czech can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Matěj Kopecký” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Matěj, Kopecký and Czech provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3509874. VIAF identifies the subject as 63578919. The Library of Congress control number is no93009710. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1775, 1847, 1795 and 1789.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Matěj Kopecký”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Matěj Kopecký primary sources, Matěj Kopecký archive and Matěj research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Matěj Kopecký”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Matěj Kopecký” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.