Frantisek Pospisil (1885-1958), a noted ethnologist from Brno, was one of the scholars whose research aims and interpretations of the topics which he studied were determined both by his individual interests as well as by social context. The paper attempts to demonstrate it. Pospisil, who was interested in modern research methods (using phonograph, camera, and film camera) and was ambitious, stretched his research from his home region of Hana in Moravia to Native Americans (within his sword dance study and weapon dance study); his findings were quoted by many respected scholars of the period. Within the Czech environment, Pospisil was one of the first scholars who used a phonograph to record folk singing; within the international context, Pospisil was one of the first scholars who used a film camera to research dances. In fact, anything that Pospisil did in the field of ethnology was unique; he covered a very broad range of themes and geographical areas, he also explored cultural phenomena which were on the margin of interest of others, and he employed an agile manager-like approach. Due to some unfavourable historical circumstances, Pospisil's name was almost forgotten especially in the Czech context, and there is almost no mention of him in the texts on the history of Czech and Slovak folkloristics.
