Antal Stašek (born Antonín Zeman) (22 July 1843 – 9 October 1931) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

writer and lawyer.

Life and work

Stašek was born in the village of Stanový (now part of Zlatá Olešnice) in northern Bohemia. From 1877, Stašek was a successful barrister in

Semily Semily (; german: Semil) is a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. Administrative parts Town parts of Bítouchov and Podmoklice and the village of Spálov are administrative parts of Semily. Geogra ...

. His work is mainly set in the area around the

Krkonoše The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše or Karkonosze (Czech: , Polish: , german: Riesengebirge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif ...

mountains that straddle the today's border between the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Stašek was heavily influenced by

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

and was perhaps the first Czech writer to work with these themes. His best known novel is ''Matusch the Shoemaker and his Friends'', published posthumously in 1932. Stašek worked briefly in

Mohelnice Mohelnice (; german: Müglitz) is a town in Šumperk District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrat ...

before moving in 1913 to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, where he spent the rest of his life. The writer Ivan Olbracht was his son.

References

1843 births 1931 deaths People from Jablonec nad Nisou District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czechoslovak National Democracy politicians Members of the Revolutionary National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Czech poets Czech male poets Czech translators 19th-century Czech lawyers 20th-century translators 20th-century male writers 20th-century Czech lawyers {{CzechRepublic-writer-stub