A Czech translation of the Kalevala was published in 1894–1895. The translation by Josef Holeček (1853–1929) is today the only complete translation in the Czech language. It is a praiseworthy translation and made with love for the language: Holeček learned the Finnish language because of poetry and it became “the love of his life”. When he had finished the translation of the Kalevala, he also translated the Kanteletar. Holeček’s selection of translations was published in Prague in 1904–1905. The selection contained about a third of the poems in the Kanteletar. After Holeček’s Kalevala, some translated excerpts of the Kalevala came out in Czechia, most of them as prose. In 2014, Jan Čermák, who was a professor of English language, finalised his extensive work on a critical edition of the Kalevala. Čermák has done a commendable work with commenting the translation by Holeček and it shows that Holeček’s translation is brilliant and it even opens up a possibility for a new translation because of the critical commentary section.