Introducing Bohemia

The ancient land of Bohemia makes up the western two-thirds of the Czech Republic. The modern term ‘bohemian’ comes to us via the French, who thought that Roma came from Bohemia; the word bohémien was later applied to people living an unconventional lifestyle. The term gained currency in the wake of Puccini’s opera La Bohème about a community of poverty-stricken artists in Paris.