František Erben

František Erben (27 November 1874 – 9 June 1942) was a Czech gymnast, trainer and educator. Erben made his international competitive debut for Bohemia at the 1900 Paris Summer Olympics where he finished in 32nd place.

Life and career Erben was born on 27 November 1874 in Žižkov, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (now a district of Prague, Czech Republic). Erben was the 4th (1901) Prague Sokol Slet All-Around Champion. He took part in the third-ever World Championships in 1907, where the Bohemian team made its auspicious debut and started their several-decades-long tradition of great success at World and Olympic competition in the sport of artistic gymnastics. He took bronze in the overall competition, behind his compatriot Josef Čada and Frenchman Jules Rolland. Bohemia also took gold in the team competition, and Erben took gold in both the horizontal bar and pommel horse and bronze in the parallel bars. At the next World Championships, in 1909, the Bohemian team won silver, behind France. At the next World Championships, Erben won silver on the horizontal bar and bronze on the rings.

František Erben being presented to Tsar Nicholas II at the 1912 Prague Sokol Slet.Slovenian caption reads "Erben is appointed head of the "Union of Russian Falconry" to the Russian Tsar Nicholas"

In addition to his competitive sporting career, Erben was also a very respected and highly sought-after instructor. Against other competing applicants from other countries and systems, such as Germany and Sweden, Erben was chosen by the Russian Government to be a gymnastics teacher at their military academies and "in 1909...was designated teacher of gymnastics at the military academy in Petrograd...Russia.".

From page 402 of the commemorative publication for the VIth 1912 Prague Sokol Slet, Erben is identified as the Chief for the Russians. The original caption in Czech translates to "The Presidium of the Russian Falconry Union. In the middle: , and Chief Erben". Giray, Gizhitsky and Erben are, left to right, the center 3 seated in the front row.