Who Was Herr von Infeld, the First Teacher of Vilemína Nerudová

Abstract

Data from birth and death registers, censuses of Brno 1850 and 1857, and Brno theater almanacs prove, the violinist Baroch von Imfeld, introduced to literature by Vladimír Helfert (1939), in reality never existed. The figure of Baroch von Imfeld was created by mixing two, respectively three real persons, namely the violinist Josef Baroch, or his brother, violinist Anton Baroch, and the violinist Vinzenz Innfeld. These findings bring more light into the biography of Leoš Janáček, but also into the biography of Vilemína Nerudová and Adolf Zelníček. Both Nerudová and Zelníček were Innfeld's pupils in their childhood.

Keywords

• vinzenz innfeld
• vilemína nerudová
• anton baroch
• josef baroch
• adolf zelníček