Abstract
The article remembers the crucial moments in the life and work of Professor Václav Švambera (1866-1939), whose 150th birth anniversary falls on 2016. The attention is paid, in particular, to its relation to the environment.
Regional geographer, hydrologist and cartographer, Dean of the Faculty of Science, successful organizer of science who made a great contribution mainly in the construction of the Geographical Institute and of the buildings for the Faculty of Science at Albertov 6 and who also founded the State Map Collection. He was also the author of the largest monograph dedicated to the hydrology of the river Congo.
His main works include also systematic research of the Šumava lakes where he conducted in-depth measurements which were based on for the whole 20th century. As a visionary he was engaged in the conservation of nature.
He moralized boy scouts and tourists in relation with their stay in the countryside. He managed to push the inclusion of the topics on the conservation of nature through the 5th Congress of Czech doctors and natural scientists.
He fought for the preservation of Šumava. He also dealt with Arctic areas and Africa.
He was an author of many entries in the Otto's encyclopaedia, he founded the geographical edition Travaux géographiques tscheques. He published a critical edition of old maps of the Czech territory - Monumenta Cartographica Bohemiae.
He popularized geography, he participated in international congresses and he worked in foreign institutions. He organized meetings of Slavonic geographers and ethnographers.
He was the holder of many international awards.