Nieślubne dzieci w Czechach pod koniec długiego XIX wieku w świetle twórczości wybranych czeskich pisarek

The goal of the article is to demonstrate how illegitimate children were portrayed in Czech literature at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. To illustrate this phenomenon, the works of four Czech authors are used: playwright Gabriela Preissova and prose writers Božena Vikova‑Kuněticka, Růžena Svobodova, and Amalie Vrbova, who published under the male pseudonym Jiři Sumin. The analysis of individual literary works is preceded by an extensive introduction, in which, using the example of the Austro‑Hungarian Empire, the unequal legal situation of illegitimate children at the end of the “long” nineteenth century is presented and explained. Additionally, briefly discussed are issues related to illegitimate birth, such as infanticide and the availability of marriage.