He is best known for his classic children's book Broučci, the Czech language word for Fireflies, that was first published in the early 1870s.

[1] Traditional Czech figurines of fairylike insect people[2] are based on the characters in the book.

Karafiát was born to a wealthy family in Jimramov in 1846.

He studied theology in Litomyšl, Berlin (1866–1867), Bonn (1867–1868), Vienna (1866–1869) and Edinburgh (1871–1872).

He became Vicar at Roudnice nad Labem and in 1874 an administrator of the Protestant theological seminar in Čáslav.