Abstract
This study deals with the earliest days of historical Slavistics at the Czech university in Prague and its perhaps most important representative, Jaroslav Bidlo (1868-1937). It follows his connection with the Prague university since his studies, when he belonged to the oldest generation of the so-called Goll's school of historical sciences, through his stays at universities in Krakow, Moscow, and Petersburg, and the development of his academic career from habilitation to full professorship in 1910.
Also included is an overview of Bidlo's teaching and organising activities at the Prague university. Bidlo's career culminated when he was elected dean of the Faculty of Philoso-phy (1915/1916) and later, when in the 1930s he was for three years active in the academic senate.
Bidlo's interwar activities at the Charles University clearly show how an originally rather marginal research field could, due to changes in the geopolitical situation, become prominent and enjoy full state support.