The founder of the extensive Brno bookseller family was Franz Karafiat, an important entrepreneurial figure. Franz Karafiat was born on November 19, 1817, in Brno, the son of the Imperial-Royal military baker Ignaz Karafiat and Thekla, daughter of the cloth finisher Franz Spaczek.
After attending teacher-preparatory school, he learned the bookselling trade at the Franz Gastl bookstore in Brno. After completing his apprenticeship in 1840, he spent his "journeyman years" working for various bookselling firms in Vienna, Passau, Reutlingen, Linz, Szombathely, and Sopron.
In 1853 he opened his own bookstore in Brno under the company name "Fr. Karafiat." The business flourished day by day, and soon became one of the most respected firms in the Austrian book trade. Franz Karafiat developed an active publishing business and in 1865 purchased the publishing houses "Bote aus Mähren" and "Posel Moravsky." Among the many published works were "Saphir's Works," "Penn's History of the City of Vienna," "The Works of William Hogarth" (the famous English painter and engraver known for realistic depictions of social customs), the "Foreign Words Dictionary," and others. He also founded a retail bookstore and lending library, an antiquarian bookstore in 1882, and a printing house in 1883.
When Franz Karafiat died on December 4, 1892, at the age of 72, he left nearly each of his six children their own business enterprise:
Georg Karafiat (July 15, 1856 – May 1, 1927)
After completing lower secondary school in Brno, he learned the book trade in his father's business. In 1876 he worked as a volunteer at Neff in Stuttgart, and a year later in Leipzig and Stettin. In 1885 he joined his father's publishing house, which he took over after his father's death in 1892. In 1899 he founded a printing house on the Great Square in Brno. For 35 years he was chairman of the "Brno Rowing Club BRUNA." His marriage to Josefine, daughter of the Prague building contractor Schön, produced three daughters: Maria (1893), Therese (1896), and Berta (1899).
Stefanie Karafiat (December 25, 1857 – February 1, 1952)
After attending the Steinbrecher Institute, she married the Silesian bookseller Alfred Wehowski in 1880. In 1882 he acquired Franz Karafiat's share of the C. Winkler bookstore in Brno, but died very young in 1886. Their children were Lilli Schneider (born 1882, music educator) and Alfred (born 1886, lawyer). Stefanie died at age 94 in Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region.
Richard Karafiat (June 28, 1859 – February 20, 1944)
He also learned the book trade in his father's business and in 1882 took over the family bookstore, initially together with his brother Georg. From 1885 onward he became sole owner of the company "G. & R. Karafiat." He founded a lending library in 1882 and a magazine reading circle in 1901. From 1900 to 1932 he served as chairman of the Association of Moravian-Silesian Booksellers, as well as chairman of the Brno Booksellers Association and the Association of German Booksellers in Czechoslovakia. He was also a board member of the Guild of Registered Merchants and from 1908 to 1930 a member of the commercial court. He died in Brno at the age of 85.
Leopold Karafiat (November 11, 1865 – July 4, 1961)
After attending the German Gymnasium in Brno, he learned the printing trade with Rudolf Rohrer in Brno. In 1884 he spent a year at the Friedrich Jasper printing house in Vienna, then joined the printing business founded by his father Franz Karafiat at Lazansky Square 3. In 1890 he took over the business (later named "Leopold Karafiat & Kucharz"). The company prospered, and in 1902 he moved operations into a newly acquired building at Fröhlichergasse 37. In 1937 he had a modern five-story building constructed on the site. His marriage to Lina Kallab produced two sons: Dr. Leopold Karafiat (born October 8, 1890, lawyer) and Karl Karafiat (born March 18, 1894, printer who later took over the business and died at age 89). Leopold Karafiat was chairman of the printers' guild and longtime head of the "Tourist Club Brno," for which he built a mountain lodge in Wranau in 1932. He died at age 96.
Wilhelm Karafiat (March 9, 1867 – January 24, 1956)
He trained in his father's printing house and later in the antiquarian business, further refining his skills in bookstores in Leipzig, Hanover, and Bonn on the Rhine. After his father's death in 1892, he took over the bookstore and antiquarian business under the original name "Fr. Karafiat" at Freedom Square. He served as an expert witness for the book trade at the Brno Regional Court. Athletic by nature, he enjoyed rowing, cycling, and alpine climbing. He married Marie ("Mimi"), daughter of savings bank director Fort. Their daughter Traute, born 1913, lived in Eisenstadt in Burgenland. Wilhelm Karafiat died at age 89 in Markt Oberdorf.
Oskar Karafiat (May 1, 1874 – October 7, 1940)
The fifth son of Franz Karafiat was the only one who did not enter the book trade. After attending secondary technical school in Brno and the weaving school there (1886–1888), he joined the well-known Schöller Brothers cloth factory in Brno and later worked as a textile designer in factories in Austria, Germany, and Hungary. In 1906 he became director of the Vereinigte Wernstädter & Györer Textile Industry AG in Wernstadt, North Bohemia, later director of a textile factory in Prato, Italy, and from 1914 managing director of the T.L. cloth factory in St. Petersburg. There he and his family were caught by World War I and later by the Russian Revolution of 1917, leading to internment in Saratov on the Volga River. In 1918 he returned to Brno. In 1919 he established the "Textilana" textile factory in Kočevje, Yugoslavia (Gottschee, an old German-speaking enclave). In 1925 he established two more textile factories in Karlovac, Yugoslavia. His marriage to Eugenie Schneider produced four children: Oskar (born 1909, politician), Erich (born 1911, textile engineer), Friedrich (born 1912, business graduate), and Maria (born 1914, politician).
